Psalms of Planets: PROMISES
by NirvashTypetheEND
Summary: Fighting a hopeless war to save a doomed planet, just how hard will it be for Renton and Dominic to protect Eureka and Anemone?
1. Unrest

Well, here goes. My first attempt at writing a story here. I typed this up pretty fast, and it could use some work, but I just felt like getting this up today. I don't actually know the exact time this is set, but for some continuity I would say early on. It would be after  
Acperience-1, but Eureka isn't in that kind of weird depressed state that she gets into near Acperience-2. Hmmm...thats enough idiotic rambling for now I suppose, enjoy!

Oh yeah, and I don't and never plan to own Eureka seveN. (Though that would be awesome...)

* * *

Renton Thurston sat atop the Nirvash, wondering how he had ended up as a member of Gekko State in the first place. He thought of her, the one he had sworn to protect: Eureka. Just who was this girl? Renton wondered if he could ever tell her how he felt, and sighed. Eureka seemed clueless to his infatuation, though the entire crew had already noticed. Caught up in these thoughts, Renton did not notice the man that entered the hangar.

"What are you doing up there, Renton?" inquired Holland as he lazily trotted towards the Type: ZERO. Renton, startled by the sudden interruption, fell from his perch atop the Nirvash, and plummeted face-first into the cockpit. Holland chuckled while Renton jumped from the LFO to the hangar floor. "Just thinking", replied Renton. "What about?" asked the leader of Gekko State. "Nothing important, just the ordinary…" Renton answered. "And would that "ordinary" happen to be Eur-" however, Holland was cut off when the one to which he was referring entered the room.

"Renton…would you like to come eat with the children and I?" said the blue-haired girl. _"She wants me to eat with her? This is amazing; I think Eureka is starting to come around…" _thought the blushing Renton. When he realized he was staring at the girl, Renton quickly shook his head yes. Eureka looked at him strangely for a moment, but nodded, and beckoned for Renton to follow her.

"Hey! I was actually still talking to…" Holland began as the two teens walked out of the hangar. He decided to go get something to eat as well, hoping Moondoggie did not prepare the meal. As he walked down a hallway, which would lead him to the Gekko's lounge, he came face to face with a visibly unhappy Talho. _"Oh great"_ thought Holland as he tentatively asked if she was all right. Talho, realizing she had intimidated him, began to laugh. The small chuckles soon became hysterical laughter, and Talho simply walked away. Holland, who was now quite bewildered, decided to continue towards the lounge.

A large portion of the crew sat in the room laughing and chatting. Holland smiled when he saw Renton struggle with deciding how close he should sit to Eureka, while Maeter, Linc, and Maurice watched in amusement. After grabbing a plate, Holland wondered if he would eat in his room, and headed for the door. His exit was blocked by Hap, who burst into the lounge.

"Holland, a nearby civilian ship is under attack by antibody coralians!" Hap exclaimed. Everyone in the room stopped their chatter, as Holland pondered how he would respond to the ship's cry for help. "Matthieu and Hilda, you two come with me." Holland commanded. "We'll defend the ship's perimeter with the 606, 808, and 909." "Holland, are you sure that's a wise decision?" asked Hap. "We could use the Gekko's main cannons to-". "No", said the Gekko State's leader. "We can easily clear a path for that ship." Hap wondered how Holland could be so confident in this plan, no even knowing many details about the number of enemies they could be up against.

"What about Renton and I in the Nirvash?" Eureka asked. "No, I want you two to stay here. The catapult will still be down, so you guys can come if you are needed." Holland said. The three pilots headed for their LFOs while the crew began launch prep. Eureka could not shake the feeling that she and Renton should go, but decided to stay quiet.

The catapult of the Gekko lowered, and the pilots closed their cockpit windows. As the Terminus LFOs launched, Eureka turned and began to walk away. "Mama?" Maurice called. "Where are you going, Eureka?" Renton asked as he ran to catch up to her. "I'm going to see Nirvash." was all that the girl said before leaving him behind.

* * *

That was really short, but it was my first attempt to write anything, so give me a little mercy. I plan to actually make this story the first in a trilogy, seeing as there aren't many long Eureka seveN stories. Hopefully this wasn't all that horrible. I could promise it will get better later on, and it most likely will as the plot begins. Hopefully I'll add another chapter by Wednesday. Until then, well...read something else.

theEND


	2. Encounters

Well... no reviews for the first chapter. I get the feeling it wasn't too good, but I'm trying to improve. Perhaps it was just the fact that I posted it on a Monday, but it doesn't really matter. In fact, I may have been given mercy by those who would be able to easily tear it apart, but didn't say anything. Anyway, this is atleast longer than the first chapter, and I plan to make each chapter longer then the last (Which, if the story isn't good, is kind of stupid). Enjoy, if at all possible.

I don't own Eureka seveN...

* * *

Dewey listened intently to the distress call they had intercepted. He was not as interested in the ship that had sent the message as in the one that would respond. The Ginga itself was not in striking distance of the Gekko, but it was certainly not a stretch for an LFO. A chance to rid the world of his troublesome brother seemed very enticing to the colonel. 

"Prepare theEND for launch" Dewey said. Dominic Sorrel looked at his superior with distaste, knowing what the command meant for Anemone. He walked to Anemone's room, where he would inject the girl he cared about with a medication that was slowly tearing her apart. Dominic gasped when he saw an empty syringe lying on the floor. "Did you inject yourself with this, Anemone?!" The pink haired girl simply smirked, and Dominic's heart sank.

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Hilda screamed as the giant blob with razor-sharp teeth careened towards her. A boomerang knife from the 606 quickly dispatched the foe, and the LFO trio continued defending the civilian ship. The sky was filled with a countless number of these colorful antibodies, but the three were not having much trouble keeping them away from the small ship.

Holland fired the 909's shoulder-mounted laser cannon into a tight group of antibodies once again. The three LFOs continued battling the swarms of enemies, protecting the ship, and each other when necessary. Suddenly, the coralians simply stopped fighting, and died.

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"It seems the 1246 seconds have passed" Dewey stated. "Launch theEND now." "Good luck my sweet Anemone," he added as the girl took off in the black LFO. Anemone smiled, the colonel cared about her, and she would do just as he instructed. To eliminate any LFOs she encountered was her goal. Before she had entered theEND's cockpit, Dewey had instructed her to withdraw if the Type: ZERO was to show up. This obviously irritated the girl, but she was given the chance to fight, the chance to prove her worth, and she would not let it pass.

As Nirvash Type: theEND rode the trapar towards the impending battle; Anemone began to highly anticipate the fight. Perhaps there would be a worthy foe among this group of traitors. In the distance she saw three LFOs, along with a small ship. "Lets destroy them, theEND!" Anemone screamed, as she grew ever closer to the enemy.

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"…What just happened to the coralians?" Matthieu wondered out loud. "I have no idea, it looks like they all just died," came the reply from Hilda. "Leader, do you think its okay to return to the Gekko now?" the 606's pilot asked. "This just seems too convenient" Holland answered. "So should we-" Hilda's question was interrupted by Holland. "One second, I'm receiving a transmission from this civilian ship."

As Holland looked down at the 909's screen, accepting the thanks from the ship's commander, he missed the black speck on the horizon, which was growing larger by the second. "Hey leader?" suddenly rang out as Matthieu's face appeared above that of the ship's commander. "Matthieu, I'm trying to talk to this guy, just hold on a second!" shouted Holland.

"What the- what is that?" Hilda said. Matthieu had also seen the approaching enemy. Suddenly, homing lasers zoomed towards the LFO trio, and Holland finally noticed the danger. "Hold on, you may want to get out of here." He told the ship's captain before contacting the Gekko.

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Just as Gidget sat down at her chair in the Gekko's bridge, she got a call from Holland. "Oh no!" she yelled. "Holland says that the Black LFO Renton and Eureka encountered at the Coralian is heading towards their position!" "Tell them to pull back, we can easily get away!" Talho told the young girl. Upon relaying Talho's idea, Gidget was informed that they did not want to lead the LFO to the Gekko, and still needed to ensure the safety of the civilian ship. Holland was firm in his decision to fight it off. "Patch the line to the 909 over here!" Talho demanded.

"Holland, this is stupid, just come back!" "I'm telling you, this won't be a problem. You do realize this is three versus one, right?" answered the laidback leader. She realized he did not plan on coming back just yet, and called for Renton. "Find Eureka and get out there with the Nirvash" she instructed. Renton, knowing exactly where to find the girl, took off towards the Type: ZERO.

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The blades on the arms of theEND swung open, and Anemone charged the incoming Light Finding Operations. The pink LFO, which lead the two others, fired a laser cannon towards her, which was easily avoided. Anemone planned to take that one down first. However, the enemies suddenly switched positions, with the first LFO falling back, and the other two advancing. "Do they actually think they can get me with those stupid knives?" she scoffed. The orange LFO, which was now slightly ahead of the blue was a prime target. Anemone executed a quick turn, and sliced the 606 in half at its waist.

Hilda watched in horror as the Terminus 606 plummeted towards the ground. "Go get him!" Holland screamed as he fired another shot at the Black LFO. Hilda went into a nosedive, and grabbed onto the top half of the 606.

"Oh no you don't!" Anemone yelled as the 808 tried to reclaim the orange LFO. She fired theEND's homing lasers, which Hilda failed to see coming. The light beams sliced into the blue LFO, and disabled it.

"Damn it!" Holland screamed as the two LFOs fell. There was no way he would be able to catch them now, and so he turned towards the one who had caused it. He glanced to see that the small civilian vessel had not made it out of the area, and prepared to fire once more. The Black LFO was approaching fast, and he realized that his life might very well depend on his aim. Unfortunately, his shot only grazed the arm of the enemy, and there was no dodging the strike to come.

"Too bad for you" Anemone said as she grew dangerously close to the 909. She readied for the final blow, drawing back theEND's arm. Just as the blades were about to pierce into Holland's LFO, however, theEND received a knife in the abdomen from its look-alike, the Type: ZERO.

* * *

Okay, so that fight was probably the most corny thing you have ever read. I realize that it sucked, but I'm told practice makes perfect? Could someone atleast tell me if it was bad? I mean any response would be good... Hello? Is anyone even here? Hmmmm... 

theEND


	3. Retribution

Back again after a long time... Wow, not sure if I should even continue with this, but I don't feel right just leaving it how it was. This is an extremely short chapter as always, but atleast it is something I suppose. I don't own Eureka seveN. Enjoy.

**Chapter 3: Retribution**

* * *

Eureka tore the Nirvash's boomerang knife out of theEND, leaving a deep gash in the LFO's abdomen. As the black mech withdrew, Holland contacted the Type: ZERO. "Great timing, Eureka. I owe you one," the Gekko State's leader said. While the 909 and Nirvash attempted to regroup in order to take on theEND, a small smile crept onto Anemone's face. 

* * *

"Didn't learn much from our last encounter, did you?" theEND's pilot said as she swung the LFO around and charged her enemies, grabbing the arms of the Nirvash and the 909. theEND's chest plates extended, and began to glow an eerie red. "Launch Vascud Crisis!" 

* * *

As the sky around her slowly turned red, Eureka realized her mistake, and quickly looked to the co-pilot seat. Renton found himself unable to speak because of the pain he was now experiencing, and simply looked into Eureka's eyes. "Eureka, what the hell is this!", Holland's strained voice suddenly inquired. She turned her eyes to the monitor and told him that they had to get away.

Eureka began to feel pain from the increasingly powerful energy waves that were being released from theEND. She looked once more to Renton, who had finally found his voice. "Eureka I…I'll". She knew by now that the sentence would end with "protect you", and looked down, wondering just how he planned to do so in this situation. Eureka saw Renton clench his hand into a fist, and understood how she would escape. "Change to vehicle mode, Holland!"

* * *

Most of the Gekko's crew was crowded around Gidget, who was frantically trying to establish communication with the four LFOs. "Is mama alright", Maurice said tearfully, "is she gonna come back!" Mischa hurriedly assured him that Holland would protect her, and turned back towards Gidget. Suddenly, the Early Warning Alarm sounded, and Woz ran to his post. "A large military cruiser is approaching fast from the east!" 

* * *

Eureka and Holland quickly pulled the lever that would transform their LFOs into their vehicular form. Somehow, their heavily damaged mechs were still able to make the change. Before Anemone had time to react, theEND's arms were crushed and mangled between the shifting metal of her opponent's LFOs. Next, the arms were completely severed, halting her craft's immense energy output.

The pink haired pilot, greatly angered by this turn of events, aimed theEND's last remaining weapon system at the cockpit of the Type: ZERO. Anemone smiled as the homing laser's targeting system centered upon her counterpart: Eureka. "This will be our last encounter", she said as her finger's grip tightened on the trigger.

"Anemone, you were given a direct order to withdraw if and when you encountered the Type: ZERO", Dewey's voice rang out. The colonel's face was now present on theEND's video communication screen. "It is important that both this LFO and its pilot survive in order to move on with the scenario. Pull back now." The stern voice convinced the pilot, and she loosened her grip on the trigger. Her mech, however, had plans of its own. theEND's eyes glowed crimson, and the trigger pulled itself.

* * *

Well, that was fun. Everyone loves cliffhangers...right? Some reviews would be nice, but if you would just read it, that is enough for me. I suppose you should expect the next chapter soon, and hopefully not in a couple months like last time.


	4. Courageous

Woah, this chapter is about four times as long as any of the previous ones!

I don't own Psalms of Planets: Eureka seveN

Enjoy!

**Chapter 4: Courageous**

* * *

Renton clutched the girl, who was now soaked in red liquid.

**/Several Seconds Ago\\**

_He saw it coming. It was a thousand years; it was an instant. The red light flickered on in the laser focuser, ready to fire. He looked over, and saw her. The girl he loved was frozen, though he could not tell whether it was terror that held her in place, or if she was unable to move thanks to the recent assault of that red light from their enemy. Either way, Eureka was in no way able to save herself. No one was here to do it for him. Holland wouldn't make it in time, Matthieu and Hilda were dead for all he knew, the crew aboard the Gekko were too far away, and Nirvash was in the process of changing back to it's humanoid form. There was nobody to come to his rescue this time. He reached out, and undid the belt that strapped her to the Type: ZERO. The boy grabbed Eureka, and pulled her to him through the opening that connected the two divisions of the cockpit. The laser hit, everything shook, and red was everywhere._

**/End Flashback\\**

There was now a gaping hole where the main pilot's chair once was. Eureka was covered in the blood-red fluid that had burst forth when the organic archetype had been punctured by the homing laser. The concentrated light had passed through the entire left side of the Nirvash, and then tore through a large portion of the ref board upon exiting the Type: ZERO's body.

The compac drive dimmed, and the Nirvash completely shut down. The damaged board was no longer able to provide sufficient lift from the trappar to support the LFO, and it began to fall toward the scub below. Renton pulled the portable communicator from the sub-pilot's overhead compartment, and sent a quick distress call on all channels.

* * *

Holland Novak watched as theEND's laser charged up and fired straight into the Nirvash's cockpit. It passed through right where Eureka would be sitting, and sliced completely through the Nirvash's left side. His anger, which he had been taught to control as an elite pilot in the SOF, suddenly erupted, and focused on the pilot of this black LFO. Holland's killer intent was almost tangible in the cramped cockpit of the 909. All of his focus now turned toward completely annihilating the pilot who had killed Eureka. Lost in this newfound hatred, he did not notice the desperate call for help Renton had sent out. The 909's shoulder mounted cannon centered on the head of theEND, and he pulled the trigger.

* * *

Talho was finding it difficult to constantly avoid the assault of this new enemy that had recently appeared on the scene. The large orange military ship was very well armed, and the Gekko was being pushed to its limits to keep up the evasion.

"I can't get a decent line of sight with the main cannons with all these maneuvers, Talho, and the missiles are all being shot down", complained Ken-Goh. "At this point we either dodge, and have a chance of surviving, or attack, and die." she replied, obviously irritated. "If they send out any KLFs, we're dead…" Hap whispered under his breath.

"Confirming that both the 606's and 808's parachute deployed, and both Matthieu and Hilda are fine", Gidget said, relieved. Suddenly, a transmission came in from a portable device, and she realized its designation belonged to the portable communicator aboard the Nirvash. "Renton and Eureka need help!"

"So the Nirvash is disabled, and falling toward the ground!" asked the concerned pilot of the Gekko. "Yes, and I can't reach Holland in the 909. The link isn't being jammed, but he just won't respond to any messages!" Gidget returned. "It is up to us, then", concluded Gonzy, who had somehow managed to join them without anyone noticing. "But without any LFOs to get them, what is the best course of action? How exactly should we go about catching them?" Stoner asked.

* * *

"What is the damage report on theEND?" inquired Dewey. "The sensors in the elbow joints have stopped sending in signals, and so it appears that both arms have been severed, but not completely, seeing as the shoulder sensors are still sending feedback. There is also major damage to the archetype in the abdomen area, caused by the Nirvash Type: ZERO's boomerang knife" replied the technician assigned to monitoring the military's LFO and its pilot. "And what of Anemone?" the colonel asked. "It appears the pilot is unconscious, but her vitals are within the expected parameters" came the reply.

"Colonel Dewey!" Dominic Sorrel yelled as he entered the Ginga's bridge. "Anemone is in danger! The Terminus 909 is still operational, and is attempting to shoot her down! We have to save her!" Dominic's voice rang out, almost pleading. The colonel shifted his gaze to his subordinate, and addressed him calmly. "At this time, the Gekko is our primary target. If we destroy the ship, my pathetic brother has nothing to go back to. It is true that theEND is very valuable to my plans, but the pilot, on the other hand, is replaceable. Once the Gekko is taken care of, we will recover theEND and hopefully, its pilot. After this is complete, we will acquire the _other_ three things we came here for." Dewey answered.

"But Colonel, you said that you also need the data aboard the Gekko! Could we not just leave the ship alone for now, seeing as all of its LFOs are not much more than scrap metal now? Without any backup from Light Finding Operations, a single ship does not pose much of a problem! We could go capture Holland and save Anemone. He could be useful to force the Gekko to land at a later time, and we-" Dominic, however was cut off by his superior. "You are forgetting your place, Second Lieutenant Dominic. I am the one who makes the decisions here. Do not worry, my scenario will not be so easily torn apart."

* * *

Anemone, fading in and out of consciousness, heard most of the argument, which was taking place upon the Ginga through the video connection between theEND and the ship's bridge that was for some reason never closed. _"I'm…I'm replaceable? Colonel Dewey, I thought…__**Dominic**__." _The name lingered in her mind as she once again faded into blackness. Meanwhile, the heavily damaged LFO Nirvash Type: theEND, was moving of its own will, attempting to survive its encounter with the 909.

* * *

Dominic took off running, leaving the bridge as fast as his feet would carry him. He was no longer thinking in terms of consequences for his actions. He knew what needed to be done, and he would do it.

* * *

"Colonel, the Gekko is trying to break away! It appears to be heading toward the Type: ZERO's position!" announced one of Dewey's "children". "Chase it down, aim for the engines." The Colonel replied. "Be sure to keep up the evasion. The Gekko's main cannons have made a complete 180 degree turn, and are still facing us even though the ship is moving away." Dewey advised the Ginga's pilot.

* * *

Renton was struggling to hold onto Eureka, because the cockpit was exposed to the open air; which was constantly trying to pry her from his grip, and into the sky. She was apparently unconscious, though Renton had no clue why she would be. In the distance, he finally saw help approaching. The Gekko was coming in fast, and the hatch was open, revealing the catapult ramp leading to the hangar. Without any LFOs to send after the Nirvash, it appeared that the crew had to improvise. The portable communicator crackled to life, and Gidget's voice could be heard quite clearly. "Renton, this is the Gekko. You better hold Eureka tightly and brace yourself for a rough impact! Oh, and make sure you hold her head, this could cause some serious whiplash!"

* * *

Everyone on board the Gekko was extremely tense. It had been hard enough to stay alive while avoiding the constant barrage from the orange military ship, but they now had to do this **and** catch the fast-falling Nirvash without killing the two inside. A blunt impact with the ramp was not favorable, but there was no other place where the two could be brought inside.

"If I can manage to angle the point of impact, the force should be greatly lessened." Talho announced. _My piloting has to be very precise, one mistake and those two could be…No! I won't mess this up! Not when their lives are in danger! Where the hell are you, Holland?_ "Mischa, Gonzy, Doggie, Stoner, you are going to have to be down there to help them. We can't spare any of the flight or combat crew right now." Talho told the only available hands. Mischa, who had been busy comforting the three almost hysterical children, got up, and assured them that their mama would be fine. Mischa, Gonzy, Stoner, and Moondoggie hurriedly made their way to the Gekko's catapult, praying in their hearts that the two teens, that everyone, would be all right.

* * *

"Everything is going to be okay, Eureka," Renton whispered to the girl in his arms. He could not hear his own voice over the loud wind rushing into the cockpit, and it was obvious that she could not either. Renton, however, did not see the girl's eyes slowly open for a moment, and then shut again. The Gekko, now mere seconds away, was suddenly hit on the upper side of the left wing by a homing missile. The impact turned the ship slightly off course. Renton cringed; it would come in too late.

* * *

"NO!" Talho yelled as the ship was turned to the left a bit by the impact of a missile, which no doubt came from the Ginga. Everyone was expecting the worst, but suddenly, a tremendous impact was felt. This was known to the crew to be the Nirvash, and they were all relieved. "Mischa, what is the situation down there?" Gidget asked over the ship's communication system. Mischa's reply was laden with fear and concern, "Oh no, this is…"

* * *

Renton was in a daze. Everything was spinning, but he did manage to recognize the inside of the Gekko's main hatch. Two things, however, caused him great concern. First, the Gekko had **not** made it in time. Only the front end of the Nirvash was currently on the ramp. What remained of the left leg and the board, as well as the lower half of the right leg were dangling off the edge of the ramp. Its own weight, as well as the force of the air, which the Gekko was flying through at high speeds, was the only thing that kept the Nirvash there. Secondly, he had "read the waves" like Eureka had taught him, without actually trying to. From what he felt, he realized that the trappar was about to change direction. The ref board was still attached, and was still partially operational. Although it could no longer support the weight of the Nirvash, the board could easily drag it off of the ramp, and into another fall.

Renton quickly radioed the bridge and told them to close the hatch. He realized now that if it did not close in time, the only way to survive might be to ditch the Nirvash. In the rush to get out, Renton was having trouble getting his seatbelt undone. There was no time left. He gave her a quick hug, and then used what little strength he had left to throw the barely conscious Eureka out of the Type: ZERO through the large hole and onto the ramp.

Renton saw "Brother-Doggie" run and pick up the girl before she rolled off of the catapult. Both the recently awakened Eureka and Moondoggie looked up at the boy who was still trapped within the Nirvash. Renton quickly nodded, and smiled. They both saw Renton's lips moving, but couldn't hear what it was he was saying. Moondoggie, however, managed to figure out what it was he had said, having been forced to watch so many chick-flicks with Gidget.

The five on the ramp watched in horror as the Type: ZERO's ref board began to glow green. They were all oblivious to the calls from the bridge that were asking what was going on. A sudden downdraft of trappar caught the board, and began to pull the Nirvash off of the catapult. There was a terrible scraping of metal against metal, and the LFO was taken off of the halfway-closed hatch.

* * *

Renton was falling yet again, and there was no longer time for the ship to swing back around and catch him. Unless a miracle happened, he was going to die. Despite all of this, a smile made its way onto Renton Thurston's face_. "This…this is it, huh? This is extremely similar to the first time I piloted this LFO, but there won't be any Seven Swell to save me this time. Sis…I guess I had no idea what I was getting myself into here. Grandpa, it looks like I won't be able to follow in your footsteps as a mechanic after all. I'll be leaving you all alone permanently, and I'm so sorry. Everyone aboard the Gekko: Matthieu, Hilda, Holland, Miss Talho, Dr. Mischa, Brother-Doggie, Gidget, Gonzy, Jobs, Woz, Maeter, Linc, Maurice, Ken-Goh, Hap, and Stoner, please…be safe. Father, I was actually able to keep my promise to her as long as time allowed. I was able to protect Eureka like I said I would! Death isn't so bad, because I was able to meet her! I'm scared, but…it was worth it, it was all worth it. The Nirvash will most likely be able to withstand this fall, and I'm sure grandpa will be able to fix it for you, Holland. Eureka…I love you. Goodbye, everyone._"

The scub below got closer and closer. A flash of blue, a sharp impact, and it was all over.

* * *

DUN, DUN, DUN! Yay, two chapters so far this week. I'm on a roll! Anyway, please leave a review if you bother to read (Seriously, tell me where I need improvement, please). Also, thanks to those who left comments on the previous chapters, you guys are awesome. I've already got the entire next chapter outlined, so it shouldn't take long to show up here. This story is labeled Adventure/Romance, and you'll start to see more of the latter in the upcoming chapters. Well...I hope you enjoyed it.


	5. Ominous

Hey again. Sorry I took so long getting this chapter online. I just wasn't satisfied with it at first, so I had to do some editing. This one is longer that the last chapter, so hopefully it will be a nice long read. I would say this one is pretty action-packed myself, but I have no idea what kind of reception it'll get. Anyways, please enjoy it and leave a review on your way out.

**Chapter 5: Ominous**

* * *

Nirvash Type: theEND's attempts to avoid the attacks had been futile, almost pathetic. Holland had disabled the LFO's lifting "skis" and was now going in for the kill. The crosshairs centered on the cockpit, and he prepared to end it. An image suddenly appeared in his head, but only for an instant. Holland saw a young man dressed in a white military uniform clutching the lifeless form of a pink haired girl. He had never seen either of these people before in his life, but this abrupt vision was so vivid that it caused him to hesitate. Without warning, the 909 received a direct call from an unknown source, which he simply opened out of curiosity. He was immediately confused upon seeing the face which appeared on the screen ahead of him. Before Holland was the visage of this soldier he had never met in his entire life, but had just seen in some sort of dream.

* * *

_"If the colonel really wanted to destroy the Gekko, why did he forbid the Kraft Light Fighters to go on the offensive? What is it that he really wants here?"_ Dominic Sorrel was contacting the leader of Gekkostate without permission from a KLF docked in the Ginga's hangar. "Please, don't kill the pilot of theEND! I…I love her…I'm in love with the pilot, a girl named Anemone!" Dominic pleaded with a man whom he had been told would stop at nothing to foil the plans of Colonel Dewey. He expected the man to answer with defiance, but Holland Novak's response was quite interesting. "You…you're that kid! Just who are you? Wait, is this still a dream?"

"That doesn't matter now! There isn't any time for questions. In case you haven't noticed, both the Type: ZERO and your crew are in danger!" Dominic yelled back at the seemingly dimwitted traitor. "This girl here killed Eureka! I can't allow her to live after that!" Holland argued, though he only now began to realize what kind of trouble his friends were in. "Our communications crew intercepted a non-encrypted message sent out from aboard the Type: ZERO. Renton Thurston was requesting assistance, and also said that the pilot was unharmed", the second lieutenant calmly replied.

"This Terminus is severely damaged from your girlfriend's attacks! There is no way I can get to them now! So what is it you are asking of me, kid?" Gekkostate's leader questioned. "I will be able to save the lives of the two aboard the Nirvash in this Mon-Soono, and I'll make sure the assault on your ship is called off; but in return, you must spare Anemone. I'll send you the coordinates of a place we can meet and trade the Type: theEND for the Type: ZERO. I will not only be saving your prized LFO and its pilots, but your entire crew. Isn't that more than enough?" Dominic asked. "…You've got yourself a deal, kid." Came the reply from the 909.

* * *

Mischa, Stoner, Gonzy, Moondoggie, and Eureka were all frozen as they watched the Gekko's main hatch close up. "Mischa, please answer! What happened?" rang out Gidget's voice over the ship's speaker system once again. She finally worked up the nerve to answer the bridge crew, though her voice was a bit shaky. "We've got Eureka, but…but the Nirvash fell…and Renton was still inside."

Doggie stared at Eureka, who was drenched in a substance that very much resembled blood. "Are you…alright?" he managed to ask the girl. Her response came in delayed fragments, and was unrelated to the question, which gave Mischa the idea that she may have suffered a concussion. "R-Renton was…he…what was it…that he said to me?" "He said, 'I love you'. Moondoggie replied. "Love…" Eureka murmured as she drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

"We are going to make another attempt to catch him! I think we have enough time to get the Nirvash before it-" A sharp impact cut Talho off mid-sentence. The ship shook, and there was an obvious decrease in speed. Jobs' face appeared before the pilot, telling her that 2 of the 4 VRF trappar engines mounted on the Gekko's right wing had been completely destroyed. He also explained that this had caused a 20 percent decrease in the overall speed of the ship.

"There's no way we can make it in time now!" Hap said with both rage and sorrow evident in his voice. Any relief the crew had felt instantly vanished. Knowing there was no way to intercept the Nirvash before it impacted the ground re-kindled Talho's anger. The pilot forgot everything she knew about keeping her emotions in check. She turned the ship around, and flew straight towards their enemy, ready to do whatever it would take to shoot them down.

* * *

Holland closed the video communication screen, and although his LFO was becoming increasingly harder to control thanks to all the damage it had sustained, he managed to grab the battered form of the Type: theEND. He quickly radioed the 808, and was relieved to hear that both Matthieu and Hilda were fine. He relayed the spot of his meeting with Dominic Sorrel, and told them to be there at the appointed time, just in case this boy had set up a trap. He then proceeded to head towards the meeting place, and do a quick survey of the area, looking for any signs of foul play.

* * *

All systems were up and running. Dominic was mobilizing this KLF without permission, and as such the large door that sheltered the hangar was still closed. He had decided how he would stop the battle against the Gekko, and was now putting his plan into action. He turned the laser cannon mounted on the Mon-Soono around and blew a gaping hole into the interior of the ship. Next, he fired upon the blast door shielding the Ginga's catapult. The heavily focused light beam weakened the door, and then he simply drove the KLF through it. This was about the best he could do for the Gekko. With the hull integrity of the Ginga compromised, the Gekko could perform a quick trajectory flight into space, where the Ginga, which was now by no means airtight, could not follow. He pulled out the KLF's ref board and flew down towards the signal he was picking up. This signal that was being emitted from the handheld communicator aboard the Nirvash Type: ZERO.

He was pushing the Mon-Soono to its limits in order to get to the Nirvash in time, plunging into a steep nosedive. The LFO he was attempting to catch was now falling headfirst, and an impact with the scub would obviously crush the cockpit, killing the pilots. His blue KLF finally managed to get lower than the Nirvash in altitude, and he went in to catch it. "I hope you're buckled in, Renton and Eureka. If you aren't…this may just kill you anyway."

* * *

_"Eureka…I love you. Goodbye, everyone."_

The scub below got closer and closer. A flash of blue, a sharp impact, and it was all over..

Renton's eyes were closed tight, because he had been expecting the end of his life. What he saw when they opened, however, was completely unanticipated. He was moving through the sky, and at first thought that the Nirvash had somehow woken up. When his eyes finally began to focus, Renton saw a standard blue military Mon-Soono carrying the disabled Type: ZERO. _"This has to be a dream…right?"_ Renton thought to himself. A strangely familiar voice suddenly called his name over the communicator sitting on the floor of the cockpit. Renton hurriedly picked it up while wondering if any of this could possibly be real. "Dominic Sorrel? Is that you! The one I met at the coralian?" he asked the person who had contacted him.

"Yes, Renton Thurston, and I expect a 'thank you for saving my life' from you." Dominic answered.

* * *

Now satisfied that the spot that the raven-haired officer had specified for the exchange was not being watched by the military, Holland contacted the Gekko. The voice that met him from the ship sounded almost as if the one saying it had been crying. "Holland…why didn't you answer the distress call? The…the Nirvash needed your help and you…didn't respond…" Gidget said. "I'm sorry, I let my anger get the best of me. Don't worry though, Renton and Eureka will be just fine! I've arranged for someone to pick them up," the founder of Gekkostate stated calmly.

"What? We've been trying to contact you all this time! Eureka is already safe, Renton managed to get her into the ship…but he wasn't able to escape the Nirvash," the girl in charge of the Gekko's communications systems replied. "Are you serious!? Holland answered, with agitation evident in his voice. "Just leave it to me," he answered before he abruptly severed the line of communication to the ship.

The ace pilot's mind began to race, considering his next move. _"Is it really worth it to trade two pieces for just one? Then again…Diane would never forgive me if I left her brother. Whoever said those were the only two options though? Maybe this kid is so blinded by concern for the girl in this black LFO that he…yeah, that could work!"_ Holland relayed the change of plans to Matthieu and Hilda, and then made another call to the Gekko in order to set up their exit.

* * *

The crew aboard the Ginga had just been notified that the main hatch had been breached, and that a KLF was missing from the ship's hangar. Dewey smirked, knowing exactly what had caused this disturbance. "Should we make a move to intercept Second Lieutenant Sorrel, Colonel?" asked a blonde girl who had come to be known as one of Dewey's "children". "No, Dominic will only serve to hasten my agenda through this betrayal" the leader of the newly reformed Ageha Squad replied. "I had taken into account that this could happen, and it is to our benefit to let him do as he pleases for now, because he is playing right into my hand."

* * *

The 909 touched down in an open field near the heated battle going on between the two warships above. The shattered form of Nirvash Type: theEND was still being grasped by Holland's pink LFO. About two hundred feet away, a blue KLF landed. This Mon-Soono was holding onto the Type: ZERO. From the blue KLF's loudspeaker a voice rang out. "I've brought Type: ZERO, as promised. I've also followed through with the rest of my end of the deal. I've compromised the Ginga's hull integrity. The Gekko should perform a standard trajectory flight to escape the area."

"Couldn't the ship just close the airtight hatches and follow us?" came Holland's reply. "It's taken care of," the officer answered. "I managed to do a bit of hacking and disable the functionality of all main airlocks on my way out of the ship. As far as I know, this has gone unnoticed, but even if it hasn't…it will take some time for them to figure out how to fix it" was the white-clad boy's response. "We were also able to confirm that the two LFOs that theEND took down crash landed right around this area, so you should be able to quickly acquire the remains of the machines along with their pilots while you're here."

_"He really thought this through…at least most of it"_ Holland thought to himself with a smirk on his face. "Alright, lets get this over with. If you'll deactivate your KLF, I'll do the same. We'll exchange the pilots of the two LFOs and then trade the LFOs themselves." Holland Novak instructed.

Dominic thought this through for a few seconds, and announced his agreement. He used a lever to cut the power of the Mon-Soono, and disembarked as Holland did the same. When he reached the cockpit of the Type: ZERO, however, Dominic only found a slightly dazed Renton still inside. He asked where Eureka was, but suddenly heard the leader of Gekkostate yell "Matthieu, Now!" As Dominic Sorrel turned to face Holland, he was met with a hard punch to his face. He fell to the hard metalic surface of the Nirvash, struggling to stay alert. Dominic soon slipped into unconsciousness as a result of the well-aimed attack, however. As the darkness overwhelmed him, he whispered her name. "Anemone…"

* * *

"We've secured everything we need to get here. Talho, everyone on our end is fine. Get over here and pick us up!" yelled seemingly content Holland to the Gekko's pilot. "Looks like his plan actually worked" said the ex-spy. "Well, there's a first time for everything, I suppose." Ken-Goh said with amusement. Hap laughed at the verbal attack that had just been launched against his best friend, Holland. "Hey! I heard that you know!" the leader's voice rang out, feigning anger. "Oh, didn't realize that line of communication was still open" Gidget said with a smile and a bit of sarcasm. The strong connection between the group of runaways known as "Gekkostate" was starting to become evident once again. All the crew was relieved to hear that Renton was safe, bringing the gradual return of their sense of humor. It didn't hurt that they had just taken possession of Dewey's main LFO and its pilot thanks to the blundering of some young kid, either.

The Gekko made a quick rotation and headed away from the orange military cruiser that it had been attacking. The green and white SL-1200 Mk-II headed toward the group of LFOs gathered in an open field at breakneck speed. The main hatch, which housed the ship's catapult, was once again lowered, as the Gekko grew ever closer to those waiting on the ground.

* * *

Holland re-activated the 909, picking up the damaged 808 under one arm while still holding onto Nirvash Type: theEND with the other. Not far from his position, Hilda was turning on the power to the military KLF that the black-haired officer had brought. As Matthieu climbed into the cockpit with her, she carefully picked up the two severed halves of the 606 and what was left of Type: ZERO. Though the cockpit in the Mon-Soono was quite cramped, as it was only meant to house one pilot, Matthieu wasn't complaining; he was actually quite content being this close to Hilda.

Renton was put in charge of making sure the unconscious Dominic did not fall out of the Nirvash's damaged cockpit. He wasn't really sure what was going on and was just thankful to be alive. Off in the distance, he saw a welcomed sight: The Gekko was headed towards them at a high speed; smoke billowing from its damaged right wing. The hatch began to open, and Renton saw the large scrape that had been made when the Nirvash was dragged off of the catapult. "Hold on tight, Renton! Don't let that kid fall out and die!" Hilda instructed, as the Gekko grew ever closer.

The Gekko plummeted until the catapult was almost in contact with the ground. The Mon-Soono and the Terminus 909 crouched down as the ship approached them. At the last moment, the mechanical knees of the two machines sprang them up onto the catapult. Immediately, the hatch began to close, and the KLF and LFO walked into the hangar, depositing the mechs they had been carrying gently onto the floor.

* * *

"Holland just said everyone in the hangar is safe and sound, they're all strapping themselves in for the launch!" Gidget reported. "Thank goodness" Hap said with a sigh of relief. "We're not out of trouble yet!" the pilot informed. "Deploy the defensive screens!" said Talho as she turned the ship one hundred eighty degrees to face the Ginga. Ken-Goh input the command into his control console, and the orange visors at the bow of the ship opened. From each of the two, a rocket-propelled canister containing a large amount of opaque gas was launched. The two containers flew towards the enemy ship and released their contents, obscuring the Gekko from view.

"The fly wheels are already going. The boosters can be fired up at any time," Talho reported to the rest of the bridge crew. "Gidget, has everyone secured themselves to something that won't move during the launch?" she inquired of the younger girl. "Yes, everyone is buckled in." she replied. She thanked Gidget, and began to change the Gekko from its standard parallel flight to launch position. The nose of the ship was raised to face the upper atmosphere as the Gekko came to a halt. The ship was now hovering in midair, having obtained the proper trajectory for take-off. "Igniting boosters now!" the pilot announced. The gargantuan thrusters began to put out large flames as a result of the internal combustion going on inside the engines. Immediately, everyone was compressed against their seats as the ship began moving at extreme speeds towards space. Talho seemed fine outwardly, though inside she was praying that the ship was still capable of reaching escape velocity after the thorough beating it had just taken.

* * *

Renton was beginning to feel queasy from the high G-forces that were generated by the trajectory flight. _"I wonder if I'll ever get used to the feeling of being hurled into space?"_ the teen pondered. Thinking back over the events of the day, however, he realized that this was almost nothing compared to what he had already been through. Something suddenly struck him: he wanted to see Eureka. Having almost been deprived of ever seeing her again, he realized just how much he yearned to be with the girl he had almost given his life for. Everything else went away. There was no longer any fear or unease about the launch into space, just a need to see her face, her smile again.

* * *

The orange military ship christened "Ginga" broke through the large cloud of smoke just in time to see the now distant form of the Gekko disappearing into the vastness of the darkening sky. Colonel Dewey brought his fist down upon the armrest of his chair in anger. _"My idiot brother has managed to obtain six pieces, though I'm confident he doesn't recognize the Thurston brat or that traitor Sorrel are the partners yet. However, in a sense, he has just made things easier for me. He has collected six of them in one place without even realizing it, and that will be his undoing in the end! The Gekko is now even more vulnerable to attack than before. It no longer has any functioning LFOs to protect it. With the Type: ZERO out of the way, there is no chance for a seven swell to get in the way either"_ the man's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by one of his "children". "Should we pursue the Gekko now that they have gained a majority, sir?" the girl inquired. "Impossible" replied the Ginga's pilot. "It will be impossible to pursue them because I've just received data indicating the airtight hatches are malfunctioning, though there is no indication as to why they aren't working properly.

"Second Lieutenant Dominic Sorrel has history in the Federation's intelligence department, and as such, he is trained in circumventing the mechanical functions of a ship. There is no doubt that he is the cause of this," Dewey told the bridge crew. "We will have other opportunities to go on the offensive against that group of wretched fools" he assured them, having already decided what his next strike against the Gekko would be as he spoke the words.

* * *

Well, thats it for chapter 5. Hope you liked it. If I made any errors in continuity, grammar, or anything else you could catch, please let me know. Any pointers are much appreciated, but even if you just say "good job", that's fine. Or if you want to insult it, I guess that would be cool too.


	6. Heroic

Sorry I took so long. I was on vacation last week, and this week has had a pretty hectic start. I'm just throwing this out there, but is anyone interested in beta reading for me? I look over the chapters before I post them, but I know I can't fix every mistake. It would be nice to have someone else to review them for any mistakes before I put them on here. Anyways, please enjoy this one. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and it's a pretty long read compared to some of the earlier chapters. Please drop a quick review after you finish reading. As always, I'd appreciate any advice or criticism, but, like all people, I enjoy being encouraged. Alright, enough of this, onto the story.

**Chapter 6: Heroic**

* * *

The flames being emitted from the Gekko's thrusters dimmed as the ship began to slow down. Ken-Goh re-activated the safety locks on all weapon systems with a sigh of relief. The fight with Dewey and his flagship, the Ginga, had taken its toll on the bridge crew of the Gekko.

"Jobs, damage report?" asked the now weary Talho. "We took numerous hits along the ship's hull, but none of them were too serious. As you know now, we also suffered heavy damage to the right wing. We're looking at a large loss of reflection film, as well as the destruction of two VRFs. I'm unsure of the severity of the damage to the LFOs we recovered. In the heat of battle, there was simply too much data to examine it all. There is some good news, though. There was no damage to the trappar interferencer, so the military shouldn't be able to track us. Artificial gravity seems to be functioning without any problems. Also-" the technician was cut off by the ship's pilot. "That's good enough for now. Thank you, Jobs." Talho interrupted. "Sure, no problem" he replied_. "Looks like we're gonna have to land for repairs somewhere…" _Talho thought to herself, feeling the beginnings of a headache.

* * *

"We made it out in one piece…" Holland turned to look at the R606, which was now cut into two halves "…sort of." "In any case, we should take our two new prisoners in for a checkup, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if Mischa treated Renton for any injuries as well. Hey, Matthieu, Hilda, help me carry these kids to the medical room" Holland asked/commanded. The Gekkostate's leader picked the dazed Renton Thurston up out of Nirvash's cockpit, allowing him to ride on his back. Meanwhile, Matthieu and Hilda retrieved Dominic and Anemone, respectively.

As he walked to Mischa's office, Holland contacted Woz, the ship's single radar personnel. "Woz, could you check out this LFO and KLF we just acquired, and disable any tracking systems the military may have installed on them? I don't want them to know where to find us. Also, before you go, relay a message to Talho for me. Tell her to take the Gekko to Bellforest. There's someone we need to pick up there," he told the man. Woz agreed to do so, and began the walk to the Gekko's hangar.

* * *

The door to the sickbay opened, and Mischa, who had been examining Eureka, turned to face the six people who had entered. "Welcome back, I see you've brought me some new patients," she said without looking at any one of them in particular. Holland, unsure who she was speaking to, decided to answer. "Yeah, could you look these two over before we put them in the brig? This kid here might have a broken nose from the hit he took, and seeing as he saved our lives…it seems like we owe him. I don't know what the heck is wrong with pink-hair here; you should probably look at her too, if you don't mind." Holland explained to the doctor. She nodded her approval, "I'll see what I can do. Sorry if I'm acting a little out of it. It has been quite the stressful day," she said.

Matthieu and Hilda looked at each other, then at Mischa, and expressed their agreement. "Oh, yeah, Renton here deserves some rest after what he's been through." Matthieu pointed out. "Yeah, he is quite the brave one." Mischa remarked of the now sleeping boy. "'Like father, like son', right, leader?" Hilda asked, looking first at Renton, and then to Holland. "Yeah, 'like father, like son'." Holland Novak replied.

The chatter caused Renton to slowly awaken from his light sleep. He looked around the room from his elevated position first to the one carrying him. Then, he turned to see the unconscious forms of Dominic and the pink-haired girl from his dream back at Salisa Orne. Finally, his gaze shifted to the one he had been looking for. Eureka was now dressed in a hospital gown, asleep on the examination table. Her face wore a peaceful expression, and a small smile crept onto the teen's countenance. He released his grip on Holland, and fell to the ground. The startled lifting legend thought he had dropped Renton, and quickly apologized. There was no response however, as Renton slowly stood up, and moved over to where Eureka lay. As he drew near to the unconscious girl, Renton began to feel lightheaded. When he was within a few steps of her, he collapsed, and was caught by Holland before he hit the ground.

"From what I've seen so far, Renton just appears to be tired, but I'll examine him anyway. I can only handle one at a time, however, so please take him and this other boy outside to wait. I'll analyze the girl first." Matthieu, Holland, and Hilda nodded, and left the room, carrying the two teen boys.

* * *

It took almost an hour for Mischa to treat the two prisoners, who were then thrown into the brig. She was now examining Renton Thurston. The boy showed only slight symptoms of shock. He had, obviously, come very close to dying earlier, so it was no surprise. It was a complete enigma as to how he had escaped almost unscathed from the ordeal. As she looked up from her chart to tell him he would be fine, she realized that Renton had moved over to where Eureka was resting, and was now holding her hand. The red-haired doctor was going to reprimand him, but suddenly the girl on the bed began to stir. _"Impossible, even as a coralian, she should still require much more time to even begin to awaken!" _

As her eyes opened, Eureka wondered how long she had been out. She suddenly became conscious of someone standing over her, stopping her thoughts on that matter. _"Who…Renton! How? I thought he…he didn't get out of the Nirvash in time. This doesn't feel like a dream. I wonder if he somehow survived or-" _Her thoughts were interrupted once again as a comforting warmth enveloped her. Renton was embracing her, saying he was so happy she was awake. She remembered that this wasn't the first time he had hugged her, but it felt different now. She didn't understand why, but Eureka felt her face begin to warm up. _"How should I respond to this…do I…?" _she asked herself. The girl was at a complete loss, having never felt this way before. She decided to return the gesture, wrapping her arms around the boy and squeezing gently. Without knowing the exact reason for saying it, Eureka said "Thank you, Renton."

Mischa watched the two, and suddenly noticed that Eureka was…blushing? She had heard that the boy had made Eureka laugh back at Bellforest. What was happening before her right now was an even greater surprise, though. Eureka had actually accepted his act of affection, and hugged him back. She could only come to one conclusion, and it was one she was sure Holland wouldn't like. Mischa wondered if it would even be worthwhile to share her thoughts with the Gekkostate's short-tempered leader. "Alright, that's enough, Renton" she told the boy, trying to avoid laughing. "Eureka has a minor concussion, along with other small injuries. Also, even though it's nothing major,she has some damage to her ribs that was caused when you threw her out of the Nirvash to the metal floor of the catapult. "I…I'm sorry Eureka, I didn't know what else to-" Renton's apology was cut off by the ship's physician. "I wasn't trying to blame you for anything Renton, and I'm sorry if it came across that way. It was a necessary action in saving her life. For now, she could use some rest" the doctor told him. "You need rest too. Go back to your quarters and sleep for awhile." Renton reluctantly released the girl from the hug, and turned to leave. "Thanks, Miss Mischa. I hope you feel better soon, Eureka" the teen said as he left the room.

As he was leaving the sickbay, Renton encountered Eureka's three children. He was completely unprepared for the greeting he received, however. The three kids tackled him to the floor, hugging the confused Renton. "Thank you sooooo much for protecting mama!" Maeter said. "You were pretty cool out there, Renton," the more laidback Maurice said as he stood up. "You're a hero, our hero!" the youngest of the three, Linc yelled. "Yeah!" his sister agreed. Maurice nodded. Renton couldn't help but smile. "No problem! I'd do anything for you guys and your mama!" came his enthusiastic reply to their praise. The children continued to encourage the boy rowdily, until Mischa opened the door and shushed them, reminding them that their mama needed quiet.

As the children ran to their parent, and the medical room's door began to close, Renton looked once more to the girl he loved. For an instant, their eyes met just before the green door obscured their view of each other. Renton turned toward his room, and slowly trotted there with a smile on his face. His fatigue finally overtook him as he lay down on the mattress on the floor of his quarters.

* * *

Dominic awoke to find himself sprawled out on the floor of a small, dark room. There was a musty smell in the place, and he wondered when it was last cleaned. He suddenly felt pain in his face, and brought a hand up to feel his injured nose. The intelligence officer found a bandage across his damaged sensory organ. As his eyes began to slowly adjust to the small amount of light available, he noticed something moving. Lying on the small bench inside the cell was Anemone. Her breathing was very soft, but it didn't sound strained. A sense of relief that she was all right now became mingled with the unease he was feeling about this place. He closed his eyes, only now feeling the intense headache he had developed. _"Just what have I gotten us into now?"_

It was becoming painful to think because of the migraine, but Dominic forced himself to reflect back over the events of the day. _"That bastard tricked me, and then he had one of his thugs punch my lights out! What did I ever do to them? I saved all of their lives and that's what I get, huh?" _as he considered it, however, it became increasingly obvious that he had pretty much asked for this, bargaining with a renegade militia without any backup. _"They took us on board their ship, and now, the Gekkostate is in possession of not only Eureka, the Type: ZERO, and Renton Thurston, but Anemone, theEND, and I as well. The Colonel's brother managed to not only escape death, but to do it with a majority of the pieces as well! This means that Dewey Novak will strike them, and probably sooner than later. With all the damage to their LFO forces, the Gekko wouldn't withstand another all-out attack. Then again, it isn't Dewey's style to rush in. He'll probably secure some sort of outside force to attack Gekkostate."_

"What's on your face, Dominic?" asked the now weak voice of his cellmate. "Huh? You're awake, Anemone?" the boy inquired. "Well of course I'm awake if I'm talking to you, idiot" she teased, letting out a small laugh. "…I got punched, so I guess someone put this bandage here while I was sleeping," he told her. "Where…are we? What happened? The last thing I remember is piloting theEND, and Dewey said…I was…'replaceable'. Am I useless if I can be so easily replaced?" she asked, fighting back tears.

"No, of course not! There's simply no way you are useless, Anemone," he told the apparently depressed pilot. "Anyhow, we're being held prisoner on the Gekko. As to what happened…I had to…you were going to die out there, Anemone!" Dominic said. She had a shocked look on her face, but didn't respond. "The…the Colonel was going to let you die out there, so I had to take matters into my own hands! I aided Gekkostate in order to save your life. There was nothing else I could do. I couldn't just sit back and watch you die because I…I…well you see, I…love you, Anemone"

When there was no response from the girl for what seemed like hours to him (though it was really only a minute or two), Dominic felt his spirit plummet. He had just poured his heart out to Anemone, and she merely stared at him with a black expression. Dominic almost expected the usual punch or kick from the often-unruly girl.

It took a bit of time, but Anemone finally worked up the nerve to reply to what Dominic had just shared with her. "I…I feel the same way, Dominic. Although it's only recently that I've…realized it…" the girl said slowly, in almost a whisper. Dominic almost fell over backwards upon hearing her answer. There was no way that what he just heard could be right. He would have pinched himself to see if he was dreaming, but then felt the pain in his head and was sure he had to be awake. "Anemone…I-" Dominic stopped when he saw the girl beckoning for him to come over to her. He stood and tentatively took a seat at the end of the bench, and Anemone scooted herself over to him. She laid her head on Dominic's lap, and was soon sleeping soundly. Dominic ran his fingers lightly through Anemone's pink hair, and could only think one thing: _"Wow."_

Almost half an hour later, the solid metal hatch that sealed the cell slowly creaked open. Dominic had to shield his eyes from the amount of light that now entered the small room. Outside was a blonde boy with a blue hat, holding a tray of food. Standing beside him, clutching a rifle, was the gray-haired leader of Gekkostate, Holland Novak. "Wow, I guess you weren't lying about her being your girlfriend!" Holland said as he observed the girl sleeping peacefully with her head of Sorrel's lap. "Hey, I never said she was my girlfriend, and please be quiet. Anemone is sleeping" the white-dressed prisoner protested. "Right…right. Doggie, go ahead and put their food inside" Holland instructed. The blonde dressed in blue obeyed, and placed the tray on the floor in front of Dominic.

Dominic thanked him, and Moondoggie gave him a thumbs-up. Though he thought the gesture quite strange, Dominic said nothing of it, and began to scrutinize the questionable food that had been prepared for he and Anemone. "Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose" Holland said with a chuckle. "Everyone was resting, so I prepared your meals. Can't say I'm a great cook either. Sorry about the nose, kid. That's nothing compared to what my brother would have done to you, though. You might even consider yourself lucky; Dewey would have had you executed for betraying him. For now, just eat and sleep. Once we arrive at our destination, I'll consider letting you out of here. In a while, the Gekko will be re-entering the atmosphere, so make sure to hold on tight" Holland Novak explained to the prisoner. Dominic started to speak, but the door was suddenly closed with a rather loud bang, and the room darkened. He looked down, and was relieved to see that Anemone was still asleep. He leaned back against the wall as he marveled at how heavy a sleeper she must be. "Rest a bit longer, Anemone. When you wake up…you'll probably be feeling the withdrawal symptoms from the medication."

* * *

Holland walked the halls of the Gekko until he finally arrived at the room he and Talho shared. The door slid open, and he let himself fall down heavily onto the couch. "I wondered when you'd show up, Holland" a feminine voice called out. He looked to the bed to see Talho sitting on the edge of the cot, sipping a coffee. "Hey…good job out there today. You really saved us, Talho," he said to the pilot. She smiled and walked over to where he was, having set her cup down on the bedside table. Without warning, she leaned over and kissed the Gekkostate's leader, closing her eyes as their lips met. Holland wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her closer.

When they finally broke their mouths apart, Talho had a smirk on her face. "What's that expression supposed to mean?" Holland asked her. "You were buttering me up with all that 'you really saved us' crap, weren't you?" she asked jokingly. Holland shook his head "You know that isn't true. Hey…shouldn't you be steering the ship right now?" he inquired. "Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to that. The Gekko is on autopilot right now, but I guess we should be really close to our destination by now," the pilot answered. She got up to leave the room, and Holland followed, walking next to her. As they walked side by side to the ship's bridge, Holland took Talho's hand, and squeezed it gently. She looked his way and smiled. She wanted to say what was on her mind, _"You were the real hero today, Holland"_, but kept the thought to herself. When Talho reached the pilot's chair, she began the procedure of adjusting the ship's systems for re-entry. Holland left the bridge, heading for a certain boy's room.

* * *

Renton awoke to see Holland Novak at his door. He rubbed his eyes, realizing that he was still extremely tired. "Renton, I need you to do me a favor. Normally, I wouldn't ask you to do something like this, but in our present situation, it can't be helped. There's someone I need you to get a hold of, because we really need his help right now. I'm convinced you're the only one who can convince him to help us, too. Here's a communicator. I'm sure you still remember his phone number, so give the guy a call for me. If not for me then…do it for Eureka. This concerns the safety of everyone onboard the Gekko." "I'll do whatever I can to help, Holland" said the weary teen.

* * *

"This needs to happen as quickly as possible. After the last time we showed up here, I'm sure the military has bolstered their defenses. Renton, are you sure he'll be willing to come on board?" Holland, who had now returned to the Gekko's bridge, asked. "I'm positive that he'll help us," the boy said. Holland wasn't so sure, but decided to take Thurston at his word. "Alright, then we'll begin re-entry ASAP. We won't be able to use the airport, so we need to fly around the outskirts of Bellforest, and if possible, go unnoticed in doing so. Talho, it's time," the leader announced. The bridge crew of the Gekko had once again assembled at their posts, after being dismissed to rest only a short time ago.

As they all carried out their assigned jobs, helping to prepare the ship to re-enter the earth's atmosphere, Holland began to give Renton instructions. "Go tell the two in the brig to come to the hangar. Get them to sit in the Mon-Soono KLF we stole while we execute the re-entry. In case they try to escape, although there isn't really any place they could escape to…take this" the man handed Renton a small black handgun. "It's already loaded. You know how to use it, right?" he asked. "What's to know, you just pull the trigger" Renton replied. Holland nodded and sent him off.

* * *

It didn't take long for Renton to arrive at the place where Dominic and Anemone were being held prisoner. Unsure of how he should gain their attention, he knocked on the thick metal hatch. Soon he heard a voice ask who was at the door. "It's me, Renton Thurston!" he yelled through the barrier between them. "We're about to go back down to earth, so Holland sent me to get you guys. He wants me to take you to a place where you'll be safe during the re-entry through the atmosphere. I'm gonna open the door, so please put your hands up where I'll be able to see them." Renton explained. When he heard Dominic announce his agreement, Renton unlocked the lock and lifted the heavy door. Inside the small room where he had once been detained, Renton saw a male only a few years older than himself dressed in a now filthy white military uniform. On the ground beside him lay a seemingly untouched tray of food. The boy had thrown his hat aside and was raising one hand skyward as requested while using the other to rouse a sleeping girl beside him. It was she, the one Renton had seen in his dreams, and the one he now knew was named Anemone.

The girl slowly awoke from her slumber. She looked up to see Renton watching her, and an annoyed look appeared on her face. "Why are you staring at me? Do I know you?" she asked. "I'm…not sure if I know you, but I've seen you before. I assist Eureka in piloting the Type: ZERO, well at least most of the time," he said hesitantly. "Oh, so are you Eureka's…partner?" she asked with great curiosity now evident in her tone. "I…don't know exactly what that means…" was Renton's response. "Hmph, you must be pretty stupid if you can't answer a simple question like that" she said. Renton decided against throwing an insult back at the girl, if only because of his drained state. "Hey! Anemone, this boy saved both of our lives back at Salisa Orne. He was able to create some sort of barrier with the Nirvash that stopped the military from bombarding us all to death" Dominic told her, coming to Renton's defense. "Oh, sorry about that, kid. I guess even the 'magnificent' pilot of theEND makes mistakes sometimes," she joked. "No problem, really," he said. "All right, let's head to the hangar," Renton suggested. Dominic nodded and put Anemone's arm around his shoulder in order to help her walk. The three then began the journey to the ship's hangar.

As they walked the hallway that would take them to the vehicle storage facility, Dominic looked over his shoulder to see Renton behind him. "What's with the gun?" he asked the one following behind them. "It's nothing, really. Holland just wants to be cautious. Oh yeah, I forgot…I never thanked you for saving me today. Thank you" Renton replied. "Don't worry about it. I was just kidding earlier," Dominic told him. "All right, but I guess we're even now, though," Renton said. "Not quite, you saved both I and Anemone's life, along with theEND. Today, I only saved you and the Type: ZERO, so I still owe you one," Dominic pointed out.

Once Dominic Sorrel and Anemone were fastened into the KLF, Renton turned to leave. "Hey, where are you going, Renton?" asked Dominic. "I'm…not sure. I'll just go wherever they tell me to," he answered as he began to walk up the stairs leading to the hangar door. "Who cares what they tell you to do? You should go watch over Eureka, if you really are her partner, that is. I'm sure she wants you around to protect her while she rests" Anemone advised as Renton opened the door to leave. "Yeah, you're right. I'll be sure to go to where Eureka is. Thank you, Anemone" he said as he closed the door.

"That kid, he's the one, isn't he?" Anemone asked Dominic. "Yeah, Renton Thurston is the partner of Eureka." Dominic answered. "I knew I wasn't wrong. Also, the one who is my partner is…you, Dominic, right?" she inquired of the boy. "Y-yeah, I'm yours, Anemone," he said with warmth in his voice. _"I still can't believe they're so trusting of us, to let both of us out of that cell like this, and without anyone guarding us either…"_ Dominic thought to himself. As he felt the ship begin to shift, and realized that the re-entry was now underway, Dominic checked once more to make sure the belt was fastened securely. Convinced that it was fine, he looked to the girl sitting on his lap. _"Kraft Light Fighters are only meant to accommodate one pilot, but this will have to do" _the Second Lieutenant observed. "It's going to be intense, Anemone. You'd better hold on tight," he said, offering his hand to her. Anemone took hold of Dominic's hand, and turned her head to face him. "It'll be fine, as long as you're here, at least. You just gave up your position in the military, and not only that, but your whole life, just to save me! I believe in you Dominic, you're totally my hero!"

Dominic couldn't help but blush a bit from Anemone's announcement. While still gripping her hand in his, he wrapped his other arm around her stomach, doing all he could to hold her in place. Dominic and Anemone braced themselves for the ride they were about to take through the earth's atmosphere.

* * *

Renton ran as fast as his exhausted legs could carry him down the main hallway of the ship. He knew that Eureka would no longer be in Mischa's office, as there wasn't any place to strap her in safely in that room. He decided to go to the lounge located under the Gekko's bridge, and took off towards it. As he ran, he began to feel the floor shift under him, and realized the ship was about to leave space. Renton reached the room to find Mischa, Moondoggie, Matthieu, Hilda, Gonzy, Stoner, Eureka, and the three children buckled into the various pieces of furniture in the room that were bolted to the floor for use in situations like this.

"Renton, what took you so long?" the ship's photographer and magazine editor, Stoner asked. "Sorry about that, I was just making sure our 'guests' would be alright." "Well hurry up and strap yourself in, kid" Matthieu said with a grin, "it's gonna be a bumpy ride." Before taking his place, however, Renton approached Moondoggie. "I never got a chance to thank you for helping Eureka for me today, Brother-Doggie." He said. "Don't worry about it, bro," Doggie replied, offering his fist to Renton. Renton hit it lightly with his own fist, and headed for his seat.

Mischa looked up to him, and scooted over a bit, allowing Renton to sit where he really wanted to. He thanked her, and sat down next to Eureka. After buckling himself in, he looked to her, and apologized for being gone for so long. "There's no need to say you're sorry, after all, you did save my life today" she told the boy. Renton noticed her hand resting on the couch, and timidly covered it with his own, wondering where the fervor he had felt earlier had gone. Renton guessed he was just too worn out to be very straightforward at this point, and settled for holding her hand. He thought back to the last time he had held it, in that sea of dreams bathed in glorious light, back in the weird cloud called a coralian. _"I wonder…what exactly __**is**__ a coralian? Would Dominic tell me now that he isn't working for the military anymore?" _Renton wondered as the Gekko turned to face the large sphere called a planet, and plunged into the clouds that surrounded it.

* * *

Soon, the green and white ship was hovering in the skies above Bellforest, managing to stay in the air even with the loss of two of its trappar engines. "Alright, I'll head there now. Using this KLF is much less conspicuous than dropping in there with the whole ship." Holland told the crew members who had assembled in the briefing room. "It's not at all an ideal solution, but it seems to be the only one we've got," Hap said. "That's it then. Make sure to watch Dominic and Anemone closely; it isn't safe to let them roam around without someone keeping an eye on them," Holland said as he left for the hangar.

The Gekko's catapult opened, and Holland launched the blue Mon-Soono. _"This really brings me back. Haven't been in one of these since my SOF days…"_ the ace pilot marveled as he transformed the KLF to its humanoid form, and pulled out its ref board. He made sure the communication line to the Gekko was secure, and relayed a final message to Talho. "By the time I return, have the ship ready to go to the Tresor tech labs. It's the only place where we can get the Nirvash fixed properly right now."

When he finally descended to ground level, Holland switched over to vehicle mode, and drove toward the building on the outer reaches of the tower state. He knew the one he was going to pick up wouldn't be very happy to see him, but there was simply no other way. Holland finally arrived at his destination after several minutes of driving, and was slightly surprised at what he saw. The building that had not to long ago been crushed was apparently being reconstructed, and repairs on it were well underway.

After a bit of searching, he found the one he was looking for. Their discussion went better than Holland had expected it would, and they eventually headed back to the ship. _"Everything has gone off without a hitch so far, I thought it would be at least a bit more difficult than this…"_ he thought. The KLF was now soaring the skies on its ref board, carrying the one who would help them inside its hands, which were clasped together to protect him. Suddenly, the radar picked up a group of three KLFs closing in on his position. "Oh, crap!" Holland yelled as he tried to get through to the Gekko.

* * *

Gidget knew immediately that something must be wrong when Holland broke radio silence. Moondoggie, who was leaning over her shoulder, watching the communication console's screen alongside her, asked who was contacting them. She turned to him briefly with a worried look on her face, and mouthed "Holland" to the blonde teen. Gidget answered the call from Gekkostate's leader, and after listening to what he had to say, yelled to the ship's pilot. "Holland is in trouble!"

* * *

The trio of military Mon-Soonos encircled Holland's, and contacted him. "This is the Bellforest state army third KLF squadron. For what reason is the Kraft Light Fighter designated AV7-1002, currently in service to the ship: Ginga, in this area?" the platoon's captain inquired. Holland knew that even if he gave a convincing answer, he had no way to confirm his story. Without any corroboration from the Ginga, it was highly unlikely they would buy any alibi he could give them. Holland quickly ran over all of his options in his head, and decided to take advantage of the element of surprise. _"There's no way I can afford to be apprehended or killed right now. There's no backup in sight, and there's three KLFs to my one. I'm carrying someone, so I'm at an even greater disadvantage. I can't use the boomerang knife for combat, so I don't really stand a chance at taking them on at this sort of range. My only real weapon is this laser cannon. Also, I'm used to piloting the Terminus series at this point. The things hindering me far outweigh what I've got going for myself, but there isn't much I can do. My only chance is to catch all of them by surprise. Hopefully I can still fight well in one of these things…"_ he thought.

"What are you doing in this area? I won't ask you again!" Holland heard the irked soldier yell. He smiled, and without a word, turned the Mon-Soono's shoulder-mounted cannon to the correct angle, and fired into the cockpit of the squadron's leader. "Captain, are you alright?!" yelled one of the now-shocked pilots. Before this one had a chance to focus on him, Holland quickly disposed of him as well with a single shot. "It seems these guys haven't seen much time in actual combat, they're quite disorganized and stupid" he said to no one in particular, overjoyed that he hadn't lost his touch after all this time. The one remaining enemy KLF pulled its close range boomerang knife, and attempted to rush Holland. He quickly aimed the cannon and with expert precision eradicated the weapon, along with the robotic hand that had been holding it. Holland was beginning to wonder where all of this skill had been in his earlier bout with the black LFO called "theEND".

He turned his laser cannon to the last remaining obstacle and prepared to fire. Before he could finish it, however, a much larger laser beam enveloped the blue KLF, and completely vaporized it. With a alarmed expression on his face, he turned to see the Gekko in the distance, with one of its main cannons cooling from the blast it had just fired. "What the hell were you thinking, do you know how close I was to the KLF you just annihilated?! You could have missed and killed me!" he yelled to Ken-Goh. "I don't miss," was the reply from the mustached man. "Right, sorry about that, maestro. You just caught me off guard" Holland explained

Holland made a gentle landing, and brought the KLF into the Gekko's hangar. He let down the passenger, who now appeared a bit nauseous from the flight he had just experienced. As the ship flew out of the area, Holland climbed down from the cockpit and walked up beside the man. "So, you managed to get all of your LFOs destroyed by a single enemy, and almost got my grandson killed all in one day?! If you expect me to fix all of this, you had better be able to pay for it, Holland!" the elderly gentleman yelled. "Jeez, old man you really are pretty loud, ya know?" Holland answered.

* * *

Renton walked down the hallway, heading to the hangar. He had left Eureka asleep in her room, and was looking forward to getting some rest himself. There was no way he could sleep before he saw the one who had just arrived, however. Renton made his way to the docking bay, and opened the door. As soon as he did, he temporarily forgot how tired he was, and ran to meet the aged man. To see the face again, after he had almost lost his life, was incredible. Renton approached his closest living relative, and as he did, he yelled to him. "Gramps!"

* * *

"Have you managed to keep track of them?" Dewey asked the girl. "Yes, even though they disabled the tracking device in theEND and the KLF that was stolen, we've managed to keep tabs on the Gekko. It seems the Bellforest state army recently encountered our missing Mon-Soono," his "child" reported. "It's as I thought. Holland is now taking the ship to Tresor, is he not?" he inquired. "Yes sir, you're correct," answered another one of the girls. "We'll move to intercept them after they leave the research facility, I want this to happen with out the general public's knowledge. It seems that there is quite a bit of support for this 'Gekkostate'. If we were to widely broadcast that we had eliminated the rebels, we could see an uprising by radicals such as the Vodarac," the Colonel instructed. "Are we to be the ones to attack, then?" asked the first girl. "No, the Ageha squad will not trouble itself with such petty matters. There is a force, however, that I'm quite confident can get the job done," he told them. The "children" nodded in unison, knowing exactly to what Dewey was referring. "We'll contact the S.O.F. right away," they said. Colonel Dewey Novak gave them permission to do so, and looked into the night sky. "Yes, this will be the end of 'Gekkostate'…"

* * *

A romantic chapter, as promised. I don't know how well I do that sort of thing, and it was my first time ever writing stuff like that, but I gave it my best shot. The next chapter will probably be split into two different parts, which I'll release at two different times. Hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you next time!

-theEND-


	7. Darkness: Part A

Well, I had this chapter mostly ready months ago, but I procrastinated. As a result, I lost all of the original writing of "Chapter 7 part A" when my computer died. So I'm starting from scratch. I'm really, really, sorry for the long wait. I'll warn you that this half-chapter, unlike previous ones, is much more dialogue driven, rather than action-packed. The entire story can't be action obviously, but this'll be quite a long read without any LFO battles. Don't worry though; it all sets the scene for the exciting end of the "book", which I think you'll really like. Now, on to the story…

"Any time—any place, in the world—what's most frightening is not natural disaster, but the hearts of men."

-Gonzy, Eureka seveN manga volume 6-

**Chapter 7: Darkness (Part A)**

* * *

Having acquired the legendary mechanic, Axel Thurston, the Gekko was soaring through the vast night sky, approaching Tresor. A storm was brewing around the rayline that the ship was now gliding on, and would begin any minute now. The gloomy grey thunderheads, barely distinguishable from the rest of the night, which loomed overhead and around the Gekko bore testimony to this fact. It would not be long until the ship itself would be consumed in insurmountable darkness, not long until fear and death would run rampant through the vessel's corridors. The conflict, fast approaching, would not be unlike the coming of the terrible storm which was about to rain down on them. There was no longer anywhere to run; there would be no escaping that fear, that darkness, which would lash out mercilessly at Gekkostate

Unaware of the fate that would soon befall them; the crew went on with their lives, as the journey to the Tresor Laboratories quickly progressed. Although there was now an almost non-existent sense of paranoia present among the members of the rebel group, no one ever managed to speak up about the nagging feelings they would experience every once and again. One of these rare instances was visiting the Gekko's second in command, Hap, as he walked at a gradual pace down the main hallway.

* * *

Knowing the inside of the Gekko better than the majority of the crew, Hap strolled along with his eyes closed, an old habit, really. This carelessness, brought about by his experience, would prove to cause a less-than-pleasant event, however. Suddenly, the man felt his foot connect with quite the slippery surface, and said foot was thrown out from under him. This, of course, resulted in Hap taking an uncomfortable fall to the unforgiving, metallic floor. He heard what sounded like the breaking of glass, and quickly looked up to find the source of the noise. Gonzy's tea cup had been shattered, and the contents were seeping into the carpet the man sat upon. This small rug appeared to be the cause of Hap's descent to the ground. He sat up, rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, and quickly apologized to the old fortune teller. "No, it's really my fault for sitting down in such a place" Gonzy replied. "Well, I really should have watched where I was going." Hap responded.

"It's really no trouble, care for some tea?" Gonzy asked the one who had interrupted him. Hap hesitated, tempted to sit down, rest, and enjoy a nice cup of the delicious drink. "I'd love to, but I'm supposed to be watching that Dominic kid about now, to make sure he doesn't try to contact the military or something." Hap told him. "Well, good luck" Gonzy replied with a smile. "Yeah, thanks" Hap said as he turned to leave. As Hap walked away, limping slightly because of the fall he had just taken, Gonzy poured himself another cup of his self-brewed tea. The aged man stared into the murky liquid with a concerned look. "So, in only four days time, they will face their first true trial by fire. Young Renton's character will be put to the test, and his decisions may very well decide the fate of us all…"

* * *

Renton, after greeting his grandfather, had left the hangar to finally get some well-deserved rest. Now focusing on the job he had been picked up to accomplish, Axel Thurston eyed the black LFO before him with both awe and unease. "What…is this, exactly, Holland?" the man asked. "Apparently, it's a second Nirvash, I believe Dominic called it 'Type: theEND'. It was Dewey's strongest weapon, to my knowledge, and we managed to acquire it," Holland responded with a bit of pride evident in his voice. After a long, slightly awkward pause, the leader of the Gekkostate decided to speak again. "So, do you think you can fix them?" he inquired, already confident that the man had the capability to fix the machines.

Axel carefully inspected the varying degrees of damage that had been inflicted on the five LFOs sitting before him now. He slowly strolled toward the wrecked Terminus R606, which had been sliced cleanly in half. "This one may never move again, but if you're really attached to it for some reason, I suppose you could spring for some new parts. That is, if they still make parts for this older unit. That could get a bit pricey, though" the expert mechanic advised. Holland said nothing, and simply nodded to indicate his understanding.

Moving toward the blue R808, Axel smiled. "This one doesn't look too bad. Looks like the laser took out its power coupler, but there isn't any other obvious damage." He next made his way over to Holland's LFO, the 909. "You said its movements were becoming delayed and sluggish by the time you made your way back to the ship?" he asked. Holland yawned loudly and then answered with a simple "Yep". Axel, a bit annoyed that the one who had asked for his help seemed completely disinterested in the subject, cleared his throat before continuing. "I'll take a look at the cockpit control systems. Sounds like they could have gotten fried by that energy pulse you mentioned."

The Type: ZERO caused the mechanic great concern, however. "The internal archetype's been ruptured. There's severe damage to much of the armor plating, not to mention that half of the cockpit was completely demolished. That means a need for new control equipment, radar, communications systems, and reconstruction of the cockpit. And if all of that wasn't enough, it needs a new board." Axel Thurston explained. "You can fix it though, right?" Holland inquired again. "No, I can't" Thurston said flatly, quite annoyed by the fact he had been asked this exact question multiple times already. Holland's expression gained a brief look of concern until the old man continued his explanation. "I can't fix it here. The construction is just too difficult to do without a great amount of help from professionals. Even if Renton were to work with me, it just couldn't happen. I doubt you even have the kind of tools aboard the Gekko that we'd need to fix it in the first place."

Once again, the captain of the Gekko nodded his understanding, before explaining his plan. "I figured this would be the case, so I've already made arrangements. At dawn, or a little later, we'll arrive at Tresor. I'm absolutely certain they have the equipment to fix anything we need to repair." He was quite taken aback, however, when the mechanic he was speaking to clenched his hands into tight fists and looked at him with an expression that showed quite a bit of irritation. "I quit working at that place a long time ago, and I don't plan on going back, Holland! I'm sure you've heard that I resigned after making a big scene, haven't you? If I was to go back to the labs after how I acted, I'd look like nothing more than a whiny fool! I seem to remember that you and Morita, the lab chief, never had a good relationship either" the mechanic argued. Holland was silent for a great while before trying to convince the elderly, but still extremely stubborn man. "Yes, but we have to leave petty arguments and disagreements like that behind us now. The entire world is a stake!"

The response Axel Thurston gave him was the last thing Holland had expected. Instead of responding in an angry tone, or throwing some heavy tool like a wrench at him, the mechanic began chuckling. "You talk of leaving petty disagreements behind, Holland, yet you hold a ridiculous grudge against my grandson, if only because the girl chose him instead of you. Don't you think it's time to stop acting like a selfish child?" Axel pointed out in a biting tone.

Holland Novak would have given anything to be somewhere else at that moment, or to come up with some sort of rejoinder the old man's statement, but none would come. Doubt had gained a foothold in the ace pilot's mind, and his attempts to shake it loose were of no avail. Perhaps he had known all along that he was acting like a brat, but did not want to admit it. Even if he hadn't been able to see the kind of person he was before, Axel was about to place a figurative mirror in front of him.

Axel Thurston's voice was dripping with conviction and zeal as he spoke what he knew to be the truth of the matter. "You knew full well what it meant, the implications of it all. It should have snapped in your mind the minute I let that boy come aboard this ship, Holland. It didn't take a genius to see that Renton wasn't meant to live some obscure life in the military, or even one of a great mechanic. He's the son of a so-called hero, and yet, he wasn't made to be overshadowed by his father's legacy. No, because it is now in Renton, not Adroc, that the hope for everything lies. You've done your part in protecting the world's future, just as my son did his. It's time to pass that unfortunate burden down to the next generation! I know firsthand that it's a heavy weight to bear, but that boy has shown that he is perfectly capable of handling it through his actions. You talk of 'saving the world', yet your own actions are one of the main hindrances in the way of that goal"

"If-if I've 'done my part', then what is it that I should be doing now?" Holland asked, unable to hold a steady voice after the verbal beating he had just taken. "I'd expect you to be an example to Renton and help him shoulder the weight that will be placed upon him. You should protect that boy, as well as the rest of them that threw in their lots with you, with your life." Axel said in a kinder, yet understandably serious, tone. _"The whole crew, they're risking their lives to defend this planet with an idiot like me… Hap, Ken-Goh, Stoner, __**Talho**__, everyone else, they're gaining nothing from this, but taking a huge risk with no guarantees of success…" _Holland told himself in his mind, wondering why they would ever do such a reckless thing in the first place. _"It had been obvious from the start that they were taking a risk in joining the Gekkostate, but does the majority of the crew even realize what they are fighting for, or for what reason?" _Axel, waiting for any reply, just stared at the famous lifter. "You're right; I'll protect all of them. As for Renton….well…being the son of my mentor…and besides, **she **would have wanted me to accept and look after him, regardless of the situation."

Axel's face gained a stern look after hearing Holland mention Diane. He couldn't help but hold the man slightly accountable for failing to protect her. "Enough. leave me to my work," was the mechanic's cold answer. Holland, not wanting to start another argument, left the hangar without another word. After Holland had vacated the enormous room, Axel turned to the blue 808. "Well, I guess I'll start with you first." Grabbing the tools he assumed he would need, as well as a spare coupler, he climbed on top of the LFO, and began repairing it.

* * *

Stoner was hard at work, typing an article for RayOut's next issue. He would intermittently glance away from the screen to "watch" Dominic Sorrel. After confirming the kid wasn't doing anything suspicious, he would let his mind refocus on the commentary about Kute-class coralians. Just recently, he had smoked the last cigarette he had in his quarters, but realized he couldn't walk to the Gekko's shop in order to buy some more while on guard duty.

The same cycle continued for what seemed like hours. Dominic would sit quietly in his chair, occasionally glancing around the room to quell his boredom. The man in a green sweatshirt, wearing a red beret, who had introduced himself as "Stoner", would look up at him every once in awhile, and then continue typing into his computer. With Anemone resting, there was really nothing for him to do. He wondered if he should try to strike up a conversation with the man watching him, but couldn't think of any topics that didn't involve things from his everyday life, such as how Dewey liked his coffee, how to properly take care of Gulliver, and of course, Anemone. _"Wow, I really don't know much about current news or culture…" _the lieutenant pointed out to himself. He was about to bring up a serious cliché in conversations, the weather, when he realized there were no windows in the room he was being kept in.

With no other ideas, and without thinking it through, Dominic finally asked the next reasonable question that came to mind, "So, do you have any books around here?" Stoner glanced away from the screen of his computer, and then continued typing. Dominic was beginning to feel a bit discomfited until Stoner answered, without even looking at him. "Oh, sure. What kind of books do you like? Perhaps a novel, or would you prefer nonfiction? A book on history, or some sort of thriller? I could really help you out if you're into scary stuff. I've got some vintage horror that was written back on earth, even. Ever hear of Stephen King, kid?"

Not able to recall the last time he had picked up a piece of literature, Dominic regretted ever opening his mouth. "No, I…I can't say that I have…I-" the lieutenant mumbled, scolding himself for opening his big mouth. He was saved from having to finish his completely awkward answer when a man in a T-shirt and shorts entered the room.

"Hey, Stoner, I'm relieving you." Hap told the editor of the Gekkostate's magazine. "Great, I need to run by the shop and pick up some more smokes." Stoner stated, never looking away from his laptop. "We're out of 'em," Hap stated simply. Stoner's head instantly snapped away from the computer, causing his red hat to fall to the floor. There was a slightly wild look in the man's eyes as he spoke "You've gotta be kidding me!" he said. Seeing the violent reaction, Hap couldn't keep himself from laughing any longer, although he had planned to continue the prank by adding that there weren't any cigarettes allowed at Tresor, where they were headed. "Good call, I am actually kidding…" Dominic found it hard to suppress his amusement after seeing the apparently calm man act in such a way. "Come on kid, you're coming with me." Hap said, turning to leave Stoner's quarters. Dominic complied, although not particularly enjoying being repeatedly referred to as "kid". As they vacated the room, Stoner picked up his beret, and placed it back onto his head. "Not cool, Hap. Not cool at all," he quipped. Hap turned to his fellow crew member and started chuckling right before the automatic door closed in his face.

Stoner turned back to his work, having figured out the closing sentences to the article. "The coralian, just as with any other natural phenomenon, should not be feared, but given the proper respect. The scub coral provides the trappar which in turn provides power for much of the technology we utilize today. If we were to lash out, and attack the coral, as the military intends to do, we would be biting the hand that feeds us." He finished typing the final paragraph, and smiled. "Yeah, that has a nice ring to it." Now satisfied with the article, he quickly proofread it, and printed it out. After stapling the pages together, and putting the completed document into a folder with other yet-to-be-published RayOut articles and the pictures that would adorn the magazine's pages, Stoner headed to the Gekko's small shop.

* * *

Dominic was nothing short of shocked when the man named Hap handed him a broom and dustpan. "You…you want me to clean?" he questioned. "Yeah, that emergency launch into space we took made a big mess around the ship. There was no time to secure movable objects, so I figured you could at least make yourself useful while you're here, and pick up all the stuff that was thrown around," Hap said while grabbing a magazine on the floor before him, and beginning to read it. "But, how am I supposed to know where all of the stuff goes?" Dominic asked. "To tell you the truth, the ship's never been very tidy or organized anyway, but you can just move any items which fell on the floor out of the way, and pick up trash and sweep as you go. I figure you can clean up this lounge first, then the storage rooms, and move on to the rest of the ship after that. Sound good to you?"

"W-wait…I'm supposed to clean up the entire Gekko all by myself?!" Dominic Sorrel asked, sounding quite surprised. "Well, Moondoggie and Matthieu might be in to help later," Hap said sarcastically, "but I'm sure you'll be fine for now. Matthieu is still whining over some of his records that got destroyed in all the commotion, and Moondoggie is probably wherever Gidget is…but there's always the small chance that they'll feel charitable. I'm sure you'll be fine by yourself for now, though" Hap said, becoming more interested in the Ponte Press mag he had discovered. Dominic sighed, and began collecting fallen objects and placing them in areas that he guessed to be "out of the way", sweeping up as he went along.

* * *

Although he felt extremely fatigued, Renton's efforts to remove himself from the waking world were not as successful as he had hoped they would be. After about an hour of tossing and turning around in the small sleeping bag in his room, he finally decided to go ask Mischa for some sleeping pills. He reached the sick bay only to find the red-haired doctor analyzing a substance that resembled blood under a rusted white microscope. She kindly told the teen that she was busy, and asked if his reason for visiting her was urgent. Renton decided against asking for medication, and apologized for the interruption. As he turned to leave, he noticed that the curtain separating the examination table from the rest of the room had been pulled shut, concealing a patient. After craning his neck from where he stood, Renton noticed the hair color of the one behind the screen. This left no doubt that the girl was Anemone, the pilot of the black Nirvash. He considered asking what was wrong with the mysterious girl, but decided against it in favor of not interrupting Mischa.

Now convinced that his efforts to get to sleep were futile, Renton decided to rejoin his grandfather in the Gekko's hangar. When he opened the door, he saw the man standing in front of the 808, wiping his sweat-drenched brow with a sodden cloth. "You already fixed it?!" Renton inquired with all the excitement he could muster. Axel turned around, about to yell at whomever had interrupted him, if only to maintain his appearance as a grumpy old man. When he saw the speaker, however, he gained a slightly stern look. "You're supposed to be resting, Renton," he pointed out. "I couldn't get to sleep" Renton told him as he began to descend the metal staircase to the hangar floor. "Ah, you can't sleep because you're eager to hear some news from your beloved hometown, huh?" Axel inquired sarcastically. "No, I…I thought I might help you out, if that's alright."

"Well, the fact that you're here means you've already made up your mind, so it'll be difficult to deter you. It'll work out well, though, I needed a competent test pilot for the 909," Axel told him. Renton's face gained a look of slight disappointment, since this had been his main job back at the Thurston garage in Bellforest. Axel caught on to this, and finished his explanation. "Of course, I just need to see the problem with the LFO's movement that Holland reported. Once that's out of the way, I'm going to need your help to actually repair it," This explanation lifted Renton's spirits, and he quickly climbed up into the cockpit of the maroon-colored Terminus unit.

With the canopy open, Renton powered on the gigantic, human-shaped machine, stood it to its feet; and waited for further instructions. "Move it around the hangar slowly, see how the joints react!" Axel yelled to his grandson, who was now around 14 meters above him. Renton answered with a simple "alright", and moved the 909 forward. He immediately noticed a lag in response time, but continued his advance. When he attempted to move the right leg ahead for the fifth time, however, the LFO stopped, and began to topple over. Renton, thinking quickly, threw the 909's hands out, and was able to stop the fall before it squished Axel. He rolled the Terminus over on its side, and ran to his grandfather. "You alright, gramps?" he asked with concern. "No need to worry, I'm fine," Axel told the worried boy.

"So, what was your impression of it?" Axel asked his grandson. "The controls seemed to function properly, but it seemed to have a delayed reaction. Also, something seems to have snagged in the right leg." Axel nodded and spoke, taking an opportunity to test his grandson's mechanical knowledge "What do you think is causing the response time lag, Renton?" He thought it over for a bit, and then answered. "Damaged wiring," was his diagnosis of the problem. "That's what I thought, as well," They both nodded simultaneously, and began to grab the tools they would need. While Renton acquired new wiring and soldering equipment from the hangar's storage compartments, Axel grabbed tools such as screwdrivers and wrenches, which they would need to get access to the LFO's internal wiring. An air of professionalism settled on both Thurstons as they began to repair Holland's 909.

* * *

After picking up the shards of another broken plate, which had shattered on the floor of the Gekko's galley, Dominic paused to rub his aching back. The two people Hap said "might help" never showed up, so he had been moving from room to room on the seemingly gargantuan ship, cleaning up what felt like an endless supply of garbage. Just after he lifted a somehow-unbroken coffee mug from the floor, Dominic was hit right on the bandage covering his nose with a fast-moving, round, red object, which, after hitting him, soaked him in a blanket of water. He heard loud chuckling, and looked up to find the water-balloon-throwing assailants. He had at first thought that the man named Hap had thrown the water-filled projectile, but then noticed that three small children were standing in the doorway. Their long spree of laughter was ended quickly, however, when a deafening peal of thunder rang out.

The young, startled children were taken completely by surprise, and the younger two began crying in fear. All three of them ran from the room as fast as their feet would carry them, and soon cries of "mama!" were heard. The fact that kids were wrapped up in an anti-government group had of course surprised Dominic, and he was curious to see what kind of mother would permit such a thing.

Dominic moved quickly toward the room's exit, and his sudden movement caused the one guarding him to stand up in surprise. Hap moved to intercept the younger man, thinking he was looking for revenge on the children. When Sorrel halted his advance at the doorway, though, Hap calmed down and went back to reading.

When he looked around the corner, Dominic saw a teal-haired girl facing away from him hugging and comforting the terrified children. The "mother" of the children was none other than Eureka. The difference in race between all of the three children and Eureka was an obvious indicator that they were adopted. The little family soon moved away, and, having had his inquisitiveness eased, Dominic was about to go back to his cleaning duties, but a red-headed woman in a white coat approached him, and told him to follow her. Hap attempted to explain the situation to Mischa, but she told him "I need to speak with him for a minute or two." Now apparently relieved of his watch duty, Hap once again went back to reading the magazine.

Meanwhile, Dominic followed Mischa to the room where Anemone was resting. When he reached the medical room, he noticed that she was lying on a bed, obscured by a large curtain. The sounds that Anemone was making already had Dominic worried even before he drew the fabric back. When he saw the girl, he instantly ascertained that she was in pain. Although she was still asleep, Anemone's breathing was very raspy and deep, as if she had come to the surface of water, and was gasping for air after almost drowning. He gently wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead, and unintentionally awoke the slumbering teen.

The moment her eyes snapped open, Anemone became aware that she was in excruciating pain. Her hands immediately shot up to grasp her head, which was the main source of discomfort. Peering between her fingers, she was able to identify a blurry image of Dominic standing beside her. "What are you waiting for?! Do something about this, Dominic!" she screamed at the boy. Dominic reached into his pocket in an attempt to locate the satchel he always carried around, which contained an emergency supply of Anemone's medication, as well as a syringe for injecting it. He was absolutely horrified when he failed to find it. The young soldier slowly backed away from the ailing girl, who was watching him expectantly, waiting for relief from her pain.

Dominic's retreat was doing nothing to calm Anemone's fiery temper, and it took all of her willpower to refrain from pummeling him. Finally, Dominic was able to make eye-contact, and spoke in a near whisper. "In-in the confusion…I must have lost the medicine somehow…" The pain and anger became too much, and Anemone rose and lunged towards Dominic, ready to throw a punch. Fortunately for him, the girl's fatigue outweighed her irritation, and she collapsed before reaching him. The surprised lieutenant was able to catch her before she hit the ground, and slowly lifted her back onto the hospital bed. Confusion now filled young Dominic's mind. _"Didn't she say she loved me? No, I guess she never really said that…but…was she really planning on hurting me? Was Anemone just using me for comfort after she was rejected by the colonel?" _

"What's wrong with her?" Mischa asked relatively calmly, already pretty sure what his answer would be. Startled by the interruption, Sorrel quickly turned around to face the doctor. "Anemone…she needs a certain medication in order to control some harmful personality traits, but I seem to have lost the supply of it I always keep with me. Sighing, Mischa reached into the pocket of her lab coat, and pulled out a small vial filled with a thick red liquid, "would it happen to look anything like this?"

"Why did you take that?! It's very important that I-" Dominic began. "I've simply run some tests on it. Do you know what this stuff does; I mean the actual effects it has on a person, especially at such a high dosage?" "Well, it enhances her ability to pilot theEND, and controls her unpredictable mood swings to a certain degree…" said Dominic, with a certain fearful quality underlying his tone. "Both a stimulant and an inhibitor, but do you know the third, and most curious property?" Without giving the soldier a chance to respond, Mischa continued. "The addition of certain strands of scub DNA and protein to the solution settles Anemone's value as a coralian within a set range. In other words, this girl can't be classified as a human or a coralian."

After it became obvious that Dominic couldn't even begin to grasp what she had just said, Mischa began to explain in further detail. "This girl, how are the coralian characteristics you see in her different from those present in Eureka?" Mischa questioned. "I…I don't know," was all the uneasy youth could find to say. "Her eyes," the doctor began, "the red ring in her eyes does not trace a circle around the pupil, but cuts straight through it. The despicable scoundrels who would like to think they are scientists, the ones who genetically modified a young girl to such an extent, treated her with this drug. As long as any of it remains in her system, even in trace amounts, her 'identity' will never fully manifest. Of course, the medication also keeps her in a state that is much more open to commands; she's easy to control for those whom she has been conditioned to trust." Dominic, struggling to wrap his mind around the information he was being given, began to notice a change in the woman's voice and demeanor. The doctor's seemingly calm exterior was giving way to an angered yet concerned tone.

"Do you have any idea what you've been doing to her by injecting her with this? The extreme boost of the cells' metabolic processes is key to increasing her ability as a pilot, and yet…and yet it is also killing her! The over-exertion of the cells causes their premature death, and will bring about hers as well!"

He had known. Dominic had always known that it was no good, that the medication was harming Anemone. And yet, deceived by Dewey into believing that Anemone and theEND were to bring about the salvation of the world, he had injected it anyway. Adopting the philosophy that "the end justifies the means", he had knowingly harmed the one who was most dear to him. Tears welling up in his eyes, Dominic barely managed to speak. "How long…does she have?" he croaked, his voice leaving him.

"That's all relative to **your** actions, both in the past and the future" Mischa said, comfortingly. "How long have you been administering the medication at this dosage?" Memory failed the boy, and he could only repeat his prior question in a faltering voice. "How long does she have?" Noticing that Sorrel was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, Mischa moved closer, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good news, or bad news first?" she asked. Dominic mouthed "bad", unable to bring himself to speak any longer. "At the current rate, Anemone will be dead within ten years, but, if she were to no longer take the medication, her time could be increased by anywhere from twenty to fifty years, maybe even longer, with a little luck"

After taking a few moments to process what he had been told, and calm down, Dominic asked yet another question of the red-haired doctor. "What'll happen to her if she stops taking it?" he inquired. "The emotional and physical ramifications will be in many ways similar to what is experienced by those in rehabilitation from the use of any addictive drug, though to a much higher level. Extreme sickness will no doubt be a part of it, not to mention the fact that she might hate you for putting her through such an ordeal. On the other hand, it's hard to tell what will happen to her human identity. Since she's an artificially made coralian, I'm not sure if she'll finally settle out as a human, or as a coralian, but I'm sure it will be one or the other. There's no telling what will happen to her personality or memories, since both of those are most likely greatly influenced by the drug. It's up to you. To make the hard choice of endangering a relationship to prolong a life or to let that life wither away in order to make a girl 'love' you, if you can even call the responses she gives while influenced by this medication love. That choice is up to you alone."

* * *

Holland wondered if it would be worth trekking to the bed in his quarters when his chair in the Gekko's bridge was so comfortable. A torrential downpour had begun moments ago, and every few seconds, a streak of radiant light would rip through the sky, bringing with it a loud roar of thunder. The gargantuan raindrops falling from the clouds were creating a noisy, yet calming rhythm against the metal hull of the ship. Holland suddenly heard footsteps on the metal catwalk above the bridge, and turned to see the Gekko's scantily-clad pilot, Talho Yuki, walking down the stairs.

Talho made her way to the pilot's chair, and leaned over the control panel to ensure that the ship was still on course, or, at least, this was the excuse she used to get close to Holland. Talho had decided, decided to take action, even if it would drive her and Holland further apart. She knew full well that the entire world was in danger, and she was sure that Holland did too, but he seemed only to sit around complacently. Now that Dewey was on the move, everyone's time was running out. She had made up her mind, and decided to confront Holland.

"It won't be long. Your brother will attack us with all he's got, and we won't be able to…" Talho began. Holland slowly raised his head to meet her eyes, and sighed. "I know…I know" he muttered, making no indication that he would converse with her further. Just when the Gekko's pilot gave up all hope and began to walk away, she heard the leader's voice once again. "You were right all along…I've been running away all this time. I'm really nothing more than a coward and a fool." Taken aback by Holland's unexpected response, Talho was unable to say anything at all. "I've been running…and I've just made things worse than the way they were before. Back then…back when we were all together...me, Dewey, Hap, Charles, and the others…I honestly thought that that way of life would last forever…but I was wrong. I had to take some sort of action after I spoke with Norb…I thought I was doing the world a favor, but really I was just being selfish. Why would Norb have asked me to seek out Eureka's partner if I was the one she'd choose? No, it's that kid; he's the one I was supposed to find. I've known ever since Bellforest, since Eureka told me the Seven Swell came from Renton's strength, but I…"

Trying to find some words to comfort the man she loved, Talho began by trying to deny what he had said. "No, you're not a coward, you-" "I am, Talho. All that I've done is hurt others, and put their lives in danger! I've hurt you the most…I really lost sight of what truly mattered." Holland interrupted. She could see the beginnings of tears forming in the man's eyes, the one who always maintained an air of calm and control. It made her think, think about what it must be like to be him. Even Talho, who prided herself in knowing Holland more than anyone else, really hadn't even begun to consider his plight. To understand the heart and mind of the introverted SOF commander and famous ref boarder who had rescued her from her dead-end life in the military was difficult even for her, but she determined that she would at least try. _"Holland must feel so lonely. That's right…__**alone**__. Even among all of his friends here, there's no one who can really share his pain, or even understand it. He's the only one who knows what it's like to carry such a burden."_

"You're not alone Holland! I know you must feel that way, but you're not!" Talho said, beginning to cry herself. She could no longer resist the urge to embrace the pathetic looking man, and did so. "You're not a coward, either. You've carried the weight of the entire world on your shoulders for all this time, and I'm certain that you're the only one with that kind of strength" she spoke in a soothing voice. _"I…I feel alone? I guess…I do…" _Holland mused to himself. After a short period of silence, Novak spoke once again. "I've decided. I'm going to stop running. From now on…I'll protect those two with all I've got, and not only that…but I'll protect the crew as well. I said before that I'd lost sight of what was really important…and that, Talho, is you. I'm so sorry that I've made you feel inferior to Eureka. I…I love you…and I want to thank you for showing me what to do."

The storm raged on around them, and they couldn't be happier. Holland and Talho were just happy to be together. No other words were spoken between the two that night; they just watched the glorious show going on around them with awe-filled eyes, thankful that they had finally resolved the problem that had kept them apart.

* * *

It had been the hardest part of his life up to this point. Compared to explaining to the suffering girl why he wasn't going to alleviate her pain, the military academy and even the loss of his family seemed insignificant. Soon after, Anemone had fallen into a restless slumber, and Dominic, after sitting at her bedside for some time, finally left. Meandering aimlessly down the sprawling corridors which he slightly recognized from his travels while cleaning the ship, he eventually reached a large metal door, which stood out from the normal automatic sliding doors of the Gekko. The door was slightly ajar, and Dominic could faintly hear voices as he approached the entryway. He slowly, and as indiscreetly as possible, peered around the corner of the door and saw Renton Thurston, along with an older man. Without really knowing the reason why, Dominic ducked back behind the metal door, and listened to the conversation going on between the two.

The first recognizable words came from Renton. "Wow, who would have thought that the belt that snagged had to be the one back behind the knee joint." A large metal clang was heard, which Dominic assumed to be the closing of the right leg's access panel. A rough voice eventually answered back, "Yeah, it was a real pain removing all the parts and putting them back in afterwards, but we made good time, not much over an hour."

"So, Renton, what new skills have you learned aboard this ship since you left to begin your training as a mechanic?" Axel asked in a somewhat serious tone. "Well, you see, I…" Renton said, trying to think of something to satisfy his grandfather. "Hmph, I knew it! You've spent all your time chasing that girl around and no time learning," said Axel, in a tone full of false disappointment. "W-wait, I-" the flustered teen began to yell. "Have you told her that you're madly in love with her yet?" the old man said in between laughter. Dominic was certain the boy had a deep red blush on his face, just by the embarrassed way in which he was speaking. "Hey, keep it down! She'll hear you and think that…" Renton pleaded in a whisper. "Well, I guess I'll have to tell her for you if you're that scared, Renton." Axel said, heading toward the exit of the hangar. He began calling, "Eureka! Hey, Miss Eureka! Renton's got something important to tell you!" The man's grandson watched in horror for a moment, and then cried out for Axel to stop. By this time, Dominic was laughing quite loudly at the joke the old man was playing on his family member, all the while he was wishing that he could have played around in the same way with members of his own family.

Because of his laughter, Dominic failed to hear the approaching footsteps. When he finally did look up, he beheld Eureka staring at him with apprehension apparent in her demeanor. He tried to spit out an explanation, but was suddenly grabbed by the collar by the girl, who thought him a military intruder. When Dominic struggled, attempting to explain himself, Eureka shoved him (because of the fact she thought he was a spy) through the hangar door, and over the railing. Dominic yelled in disbelief as he plummeted down to the ground, and landed on his aching back. This ruckus immediately garnered both Renton and Axel's attention. Eureka made her way down the staircase quickly, and was about to incapacitate the intruder when Renton yelled to her. "Eureka, wait!"

Renton explained that Dominic had saved his life earlier that day, and Eureka promptly apologized. Dominic, of course, understood why she thought him a spy, especially because he had indeed been eavesdropping, crouched behind a door. He held no grudge, and actually apologized to her, knowing that it was only natural to react in such a way when once encounters suspicious, unexpected acquaintances.

"My name is Dominic Sorrel" the lieutenant said kindly. "Oh, well I'm Eureka. It's nice to meet you" the mysterious girl responded in an equally friendly tone. "Hello there, Dominic. I'm Axel Thurston, Renton's grandfather. I'd like to thank you for saving him today." Axel said after the two young teens had been introduced. "It was the least I could do, he saved my life too after all…wait, did you say Axel Thurston?!" "Yep, that's him alright." Renton said, overjoyed that Dominic knew of Axel, even though he couldn't say he was surprised, seeing that Dominic had known Renton's name back at the coralian. "I've heard quite a lot about your skills, sir! I'd always had it in my head to visit your garage in Bellforest whenever I got a rest leave from the military, but work really piled up." Dominic said. "Really, and what is it that you would bring there for me to fix up?" Axel inquired. "Oh, well I had a bike stolen awhile back, and it was just returned to me by the police, but in bad condition" said Dominic. Renton remembered the theft of Dominic's bike, and chuckled a bit. "Well, I'd be happy to do what I can to repair it any time. Right now, however, Renton and I need to find a way to fix the R606."

Not really knowing much at all about repairing an LFO, but tempted to work with the legendary mechanic, Dominic made his move. "I…I'm not really any good with complicated stuff like that, but I'd be happy to help out with heavy lifting or any task you can find for me, if you don't mind…" he muttered. "Sure, that would be great." Axel said, happy to have another worker.

Renton suddenly felt very bad, having completely ignored the fact that Eureka was still there. The girl didn't seem to mind; she just watched the three of them intently. "Hey, Eureka…" Renton said, noticing that she was grasping her side. He cringed, remembering that he had given her the rib injury, having thrown her out of the Nirvash. "Maybe…you should get some sleep" he advised. "Yes, sleep would probably be best…" she agreed. She felt the urge to hug Renton again, just as he had done when she was on the hospital bed. That strange act of closeness had taken the small but nagging pain away, if only for a moment. Her resolve drained, however, when Renton made no move to approach her.

"Well, it was great to see you again, Mr. Axel. Sorry for throwing you off the balcony, Dominic" Eureka said as she headed off to bed. The three bid her goodnight, but it was not until after she had left that they realized just how comical the calm way in which she had apologized for almost killing someone was. A loud roar of laughter echoed from the hangar as the three began their work on the 606.

* * *

Large green panels on the belly of the Gekko swung open with a deep mettalic groan, and the landing gear snapped into place. There was a sudden jolt when the worn, rubber wheels met the paved runway at Tresor with a screech. The SL-1200 Mk-II gradually lost speed before coming to a gentle stop near one of the gigantic repair garages of the laboratory complex. Holland, along with Matthieu and Hap, slowly walked down the open catapult hatch toward the ground below. Upon reaching the runway, Holland, with a thoughtful look on his face, briefly turned to look at the large scrapes on the end of the hatch, caused by the impact with the Nirvash.

The squall that had occurred the night before had vanished that morning, it was twilight now; the darkness of the early morning hours. It was not long until the one whom they were to meet arrived. Three Tresor staff members, following the lab chief, Morita, approached. Neither Holland nor Morita tended to make things last an eternity with meaningless banter, so the conversation was precise in content. "Why are you here?" the stony eyed scientist asked Holland. "The Nirvash is badly damaged, and the scientists at these labs are the only ones with the capability to fix it," Holland said calmly. "You're a thief and a deserter. What made you think we would have any interest in helping you out?"

"The fact that I told him you would!" a serious yet exhausted voice rang out. The unexpected statement was made by none other than old Axel Thurston, who had worked through the night on repairing the Gekko's LFOs. He strolled at a brisk pace down the ramp extending from the Gekko, and came to a stop beside Holland. For a moment or two, Morita eyed his ex-co-worker with disbelief. "Not only are you back here, but with **him** of all people…that's enough to convince me that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity" he told Axel. After chattering on his radio for a moment and commanding that the garage should be opened for the Gekko to enter, Morita nodded to Holland. "Alright, let me have a look at the Type: ZERO."

* * *

Jurgens was a military man at heart, fulfilling orders to the best of his ability, and using the immense tactical knowledge that his years of experience brought with them when he was given the opportunity to act on his own. The new orders that had just been delivered, though, made him unexplainably ill at ease. Transporting a secretive and elite squad and their small landing craft to a military research facility commissioned by the UF, for some reason, did not sit right with the captain. Loyalty, his most admirable trait would, in any case, obligate him to fulfill the assignment without question.

* * *

A behemoth orange and black military flagship was soaring at a brisk pace in the skies above Gearnus city. Normally, the sub-par trappar levels in the area would be inadequate for supporting a ship with the shear magnitude of the Ginga. Recent improvements to the widely-used VRF trappar engines, however, allowed for a much more efficient use of the invisible substance. Dewey, after reluctantly setting down the copy of Frazer's The Golden Bough which he had been reading, opened communications with a certain ship. "I've got a proposal for you, one I'm sure you'll be quite interested in…"

END CHAPTER 7 PART A

* * *

Once again, I'm so sorry that I took so long with this. Even though my computer did crash, that was no excuse for it to take this long. I hope this wasn't too boring, as I did my best to bring some character development in the "calm before the storm". Thanks to Transientkarma for taking the time to review, you're the best!

Thanks for reading!

-theEND


	8. Darkness: Part B

Wow. It's been like…a year since I've updated this. I'm not sure if there's anyone out there that will still read this, but…it didn't feel right to leave it unfinished. This chapter is EXTREMELY long to make up for it. In fact, it's about half as long as the entire story so far. A bunch of Renton/Eureka character and relationship development. If that area seems rushed, I'm sorry, but with such a short story I can't afford to expound upon every detail of relational growth. Hopefully, I didn't completely butcher it, though. I'll warn you, as its name implies, this chapter is rather dark in places...(namely, the very end) What's a story without conflict, though? If you're not someone who's interested in character interaction or plot development, the first two-thirds of this story might bore you to tears, sorry. Please bear with it though, because the action really starts to ramp up in the end. With two chapters remaining in PROMISES, I really have to get the action cranking. And so, my valued readers (if there are any left), I'm throwing everything I've got into this…

"Any time—any place, in the world—what's most frightening is not natural disaster, but the hearts of men."

-Gonzy, Eureka seveN manga volume 6-

**Chapter 7: Darkness (Part B)**

* * *

Inside the gigantic Tresor garage, a team of LFO specialists, headed by Axel Thurston, was examining the battered and broken Nirvash. Not far from their position on the catwalk, which was elevated to a position level with the original Light Finding Operation's abdomen, a newly made VRF engine was being slowly hoisted up to the Gekko's right wing to replace the smoldering remains of the previous one. Technicians, engineers, and craftsmen, under orders from the chief, Morita, were moving along the ship's hull, documenting and fixing the damaged portions.

"The pilot of the Type: ZERO didn't really strike me as the type that would do something so reckless with a priceless LFO. Engaging theEND in such close proximity while knowing the amount of energy it can put out is a novice's move" one of the many scientists commented. "What do you expect? Type: ZERO depends on agility; it doesn't really have any long range weapons. The second cockpit seat ruled out the installation of a shoulder-mounted cannon from the outset, so the pilot has to make due with the close-range knives" Morita, who was within earshot, pointed out in Eureka's defense.

Axel, after several minutes of carefully inspecting the devastating amount of damage to the Nirvash, finally turned around, and faced the group of scientists, who were now watching the legendary man intently. "The only solution I can see is a graft from an artificial archetype to replace the portions of the Type: ZERO that have been vaporized. We'll have to build a new armor system around it, and I guess a new board wouldn't hurt, either. The reflectors on the old one are so worn out that I might as well replace the entire board. We'll also need a team to reconstruct the pilot's interface and the cockpit. So, any questions?" When no one answered, the elderly mechanic nodded, and dismissed the technicians to their work. Axel turned to once again face the oldest LFO in the world. He rubbed his eyes, unable to shake off the weariness that was weighing him down after a night without sleep. "I'm going to need a nice, long nap after this."

* * *

The piercing screams had been periodically echoing throughout the ship for at least half an hour now. Dominic, leaning against the wall on the outside of the sickbay, sighed for what must have been the twelfth time in the last few minutes. Mischa had at first attempted to sedate Anemone, but that had only made the girl much more agitated. As a result, the doctor, unsure of how to properly treat a patient as unruly as Anemone, had simply left her in the medical room unattended. Dominic was conflicted. He honestly wanted to care for Anemone, but didn't know how. He didn't know if she even **wanted** him to take care of her. He was already exhausted from working all night with the Thurstons, and so further pursuing the question of Anemone's feelings for him at this time seemed rather pointless. Waiting for anything, any kind of improvement in her condition had been his sole focus for the whole day. Perhaps the guilt he felt because of Mischa's speech, (which, in truth, was the most prominent reason as to why he was taking such an avid interest in a situation he had absolutely no control over), was being numbed by the need for sleep. In any case, Dominic couldn't make up his mind to leave and get some rest or stay outside the medical room door and silently watch over the sickly girl. He slumped to the ground and fell asleep while trying to decide.

* * *

With a forlorn look that revealed a great deal about the thoughts going on inside her head, Eureka eyed the dreary veil of clouds which lumbered slowly along the scub-covered landscape. She sat alone on an old, metallic bench outside the facility, needing an escape from the loud noises produced by all of the machinery. The view was breathtaking, yet also somber; an environment that seemed perfect for nurturing the melancholic mood and endless brooding of the enigmatic LFO pilot. The early-afternoon sun, soon to be obscured by the advancing wall of clouds, was sending a final gleam of heavenly light upon the girl and her surroundings. The light carried no warmth, however. Eureka shivered. She wanted to see Nirvash; she hadn't been able to talk to him lately. It seemed that she alone was no longer sufficient to pilot the oldest LFO in the world. She was unable to control him properly without Renton. Perhaps Renton would be able to calm her nerves and reassure her that Nirvash, that everything, would be back to normal soon. The prospect of seeking out the boy was quite tempting, but Eureka was positive that no one would want to be around her, much less console her, in her current state. Eureka heaved a sigh, wearily running her eyes along the dilapidated Tresor building to her left. Her hand instinctively rose to her chest and cradled her bruised ribs, which had begun to throb quite painfully yet again. The thin strips of gauze wrapped tightly around her chest, which Mischa said were intended to provide support for the healing of the ribs, were the most likely culprits for the ceaseless irritation. Eureka slowly let her eyes close, remembering the events of the previous day, when Renton suddenly made his way out of a secluded service entrance to the garage, and approached her.

"Hey, Eureka!" he greeted in his usual enthusiastic manner, refreshed after finally taking a nap inside the Gekko. "Oh, Renton…" she answered, obviously distracted by her own musings. "Y-yeah, I've actually been looking for you for quite a while. How long have you been out here?" he questioned hesitantly. "I don't know… I guess I lost track of time." The girl replied, turning back to gaze at the large system of storm clouds to the south. Renton, finally taking notice of what Eureka was staring at, forced himself to break the somewhat awkward silence, "Wow, looks like we're going to get hit with a big storm." Eureka gave a half-hearted nod in response. "Eureka, is something wrong?" the boy asked as he sat down beside her.

"Something doesn't feel right. It's like…something bad is going to happen… I don't really know how to put it…" Eureka explained, doing her best to describe the feeling of impending misfortune that was plaguing her. Renton's gaze was enough to reveal that he had no idea what she meant. In her rare interactions with most of the Gekko's crew, Eureka had heard the same description of herself many times. Ambiguous. Something difficult to, no, impossible to understand. After all, she was not the same as everyone else. In truth, Eureka considered herself one of a kind, and, as a result, alone in the world. Perhaps Renton was no different, but, then again, there was something there, something in the way he was looking at her_…_The confusion was still there, but there was also the kindness and compassion that had always marked his interactions with her._ "Renton doesn't understand, but…maybe he wants to understand…"_. She decided to explore that theory, attempting yet again to get the feeling across. "It feels like I should run away somewhere," she continued, "but there isn't anywhere left to run." Renton, a bit puzzled by her response, took a bit of time to reply. "You know, Eureka…" he began, not noticing the slight softening of the frown she had borne since attempting to express her feelings. A strong, bitterly cold wind unexpectedly whipped up from the south, taking the two off guard and cutting off Renton's words. Having to shout over the loud breeze, Renton completely lost his train of thought, and finally addressed Eureka about a completely different topic, "Eureka, I think we should go inside! The wind is blowing the storm this way!" The girl, who was now hugging herself for warmth, answered with an equally loud voice, "No, it's alright. I'd like to stay and watch as long as it's safe!"

As the wind temporarily died down, Renton looked at Eureka, who must have been freezing cold, and immediately felt a desire to comfort the girl. At the moment, Eureka bore the look of a lost child; her downtrodden demeanor evoked a strange mix of pity, unease, and affection in Renton. He wondered if there was really anything he could do for her. After all, he still barely knew Eureka at all, even after spending almost two months at her side since his departure from Bellforest. He knew scraps of her past in the military, and she had even opened up to him a bit emotionally. She had practically cried in his arms on the night of their impromptu counterattack against the military at Ciudades del Cielo._"A huge exaggeration, I know. It was circumstance; namely, the Nirvash's fall to the ground, which forced us to sit in the same seat. Still, she was right there…"_ Renton told himself, quickly relaxing as he remembered that strange evening. After this quick contemplation, he quickly shifted his focus back to the girl, who stared at him with an almost unidentifiable longing apparent in her soft eyes.

The first solution that came to mind was to scoop the sad girl up in his arms and hold her, hoping it would make her feel safe. However, embarrassment at the thought and fear of rejection made him resort to an easier answer, which was less likely to scare her. "Well, at least take my jacket, okay?" he said as he unzipped the outer garment, quickly stood, and gently placed it around her shoulders. Eureka readily accepted the slight warmth and shelter Renton's red and white jacket provided, deciding to actually put it on instead of leaving it draped over her shoulders. After doing so, she brought her legs up on the bench, wrapping her arms around her knees to keep warm. Renton blushed; she was undeniably cute. "Thank you, Renton" she said, giving him the best smile she could manage in her melancholic mood. Renton realized that Eureka was just forcing a smile to make him feel better. He didn't doubt her gratitude, but knew she was far from truly comforted. Only his own fear of overstepping his bounds prevented him from pulling the gloomy girl into an embrace. He found it was much easier to sit in his complacency, never taking a risk when it came to their relationship. After all, he didn't know if he could bear to see her distance herself even further from him as a result of his own actions. The two no longer attempted any form of conversation, not even making eye contact. They simply watched the skies. It was not long until the assault of the frigid wind began again, and this time it was Renton that was freezing. The short sleeved black T-shirt which was now the only piece of clothing on his upper body was in no way suitable for this abnormally cold weather.

The large, anvil-shaped storm clouds, which Renton vaguely recalled as "cumulonimbus" from some lecture in school which he now considered to be absolutely worthless, had moved a considerable distance closer to the lab facility as a result of the extreme winds. Before the looming clouds were even completely overhead, the pattering sounds of rain hitting the paved runway began to sound out. Renton and Eureka silently watched the curtain of rainfall approaching them, completely focused on the curious spectacle. The first few drops that hit the two were small and almost unnoticeable. As the storm system moved to further overshadow the two teens, the clanking of rain contacting the metal roofs of the facility began ringing loudly. Renton considered going to look for an umbrella, but Eureka made no sign of discomfort, and he didn't have the heart to distract her and put an end to that haunting but beautiful look in her eyes as she observed the sky.

The rain was not as cold as the wind, but it was certainly not warm. As the rain gradually began to fall in thick sheets which were relentlessly driven at Renton and Eureka by the wind, Renton turned to look at Eureka again. _"She said she wanted to stay as long as it's 'safe'. Just what does Eureka consider as safe? There's so much rain that I can barely see a few feet in front of me" _he thought to himself. He felt the water begin to seep through his shirt. Renton shook his head to remove his drenched hair from his eyes, accidentally alerting Eureka in the process. She eyed him sympathetically, and yelled so he could hear her, "Maybe you should go inside!" "No way, not unless you're coming too! I'm not leaving you out here all by yourself!" he answered. "But why not?" Eureka questioned as the wind howled, "I was alone the whole time before you came out here! I'll be fine!" "Than so will I!" Renton retorted with a smile. The two turned back to look straight ahead, but Renton, despite his firm words, didn't know how much more he could take.

Strange, repeated pounding sounds echoed in the distance, but the heavy rain made it impossible to see the source of the noise. Suddenly, a startlingly cold, rapid-moving object struck Renton hard on the cheek. He was bewildered as to the source of the projectile until he looked down. The shattered remnants of a hailstone which had been a bit smaller than a golf ball lay around him. He turned to Eureka just as a somewhat larger chunk of ice sailed just past her head and impacted the building behind her, covering them both in small fragments of the solid precipitation. Eureka jumped, startled by the loud impact. Renton realized that they were in genuine danger, and put himself between the confused girl and the sizeable pieces of ice that the wind was hurling at them. He used this danger as an excuse to finally bring her into his arms, eliciting a slight blush from the girl. "We're gonna move over to the door!" he yelled. Eureka nodded just as Renton momentarily cringed in pain from another hit. "Come on!" he yelled, grabbing her hand and tugging as gently as he could to help her stand to her feet smoothly while still showing the urgency of the situation. Doing his best to act as a shield, Renton moved toward the door with his back facing the storm, holding Eureka close. The two made their way to the door, moving as quickly as they could while clinging to each other. Renton held back grunts of pain; he was occasionally being pelted by unforgiving ice chunks of various sizes during their slow advance.

After finally reaching the safety of the building, Renton fought the wind to close the door. Pulling with all his might, he managed to move the door to the proper position, and bolted it. Completely drenched, and panting exhaustedly, Renton turned to Eureka. "Hey, are you all right? You're not hurt, are you, Eureka?" "No, I'm fine, Renton…Renton, you're bleeding!" the soaked girl announced with worry as she swiftly approached him. She brought a gentle hand up toward his cheek, but withdrew it and grabbed his wrist. "Come on, there are medical supplies on the Gekko" she stated before hitting a brisk pace, pulling the boy along with her.

* * *

"Holland, your brother is on the move…" Morita and Holland stood one story above the garage floor in an unused office, watching the work being done on the Nirvash through gigantic windows. When he noticed that the grey haired man's gaze did not shift, Morita assumed he already knew as much, and continued. "A select group within our laboratories was commissioned by Dewey, without the general knowledge of the military, several months ago to begin work on specialized anti-coralian weaponry. Though we still have no idea why anyone would want to destroy the coral, we complied. We were instructed to keep separate expense books, and place all the data for the project on a ghost server to avoid unwanted suspicions from those not chosen to work on the project. This isn't uncommon with top-secret new technologies. Supplies of radioactive isotopes are being shipped here weekly by a company that uses reflection film manufacturing as a front to hide their real purpose. This can mean only one thing-" "Ageha has been set in motion." Holland interrupted. "Yes, and most likely it has been done without full permission from the council of sages. Perhaps they have an idea of what's going on, but I highly doubt that they would allow this if they fully grasped the implications of Dewey's actions. I don't really have an eye for predicting the direction the world is headed, but this is just too obvious to overlook. He has got to be planning a coup"

"Aren't you reading too much into this? Sure, Dewey was always quite radical, but to-" Holland started only to be cut off as well. "You've noticed the increased appearance of the Kute class, right? We followed our orders which we assumed were sanctioned by the higher-ups in the military down to the very letter, and developed the _Orange_, a super-dense warhead that is capable of penetrating deep into the scub. It is launched by another of our technologies, the AFX, a group of remote controlled bombers that maintain a constant state of readiness by orbiting in the outer atmosphere. Holland, with this type of weaponry, he can cause a Kute class coralian, along with an unfathomable number of anti-body coralians to appear anywhere on the planet with the press of a button!"

Holland was stunned, not wanting to believe something of that magnitude possible. "How…how could you make something like that?! Don't you realize what all this means? He'll use this Orange thing to turn public opinion against the scub coral by blaming the coralian appearances on the coralians themselves. Dewey will make himself out to be some sort of savior by using an elaborate hoax to make it look like he stopped the 'attacks'! What's to stop him from firing this thing at us now, and getting rid of us all in one sweep?!" Holland yelled, catching Morita by the collar. There was no fear in the smaller man's face as he replied. "As you can see, we're the kind of people that would even harbor so-called 'terrorists' like the Gekkostate on a whim. You can't expect such fickle people to have no downside. Many of our employees believe that what they're doing is right for helping the world! The things we do here…they're quite unique. If we were to refuse orders, we'd be replaced. The scientists here don't want to live out their lives anywhere else; they thrive on being on the cutting edge of discovery! If that means working with potentially catastrophic new weapons, some of them will always be willing to take up the call to explore such a new frontier"

"This order came from Dewey, though! What convinced you that he had the authority to-" Holland yelled, loosening his grip, but still holding Morita's shirt. "Once again, you're wrong. Dewey **was **authorized by the sages to deal with the coralians, but it seems that they have so far denied his plan of total extermination, perhaps only to keep him in check. The sages, they're deluded. I don't know how they could think that nothing more than their commands were enough to keep that man in line. He is not one to be limited by the will of others, so he went behind their backs to follow his own agenda. Using the financial assets left behind by your father which were not discovered upon your family's fall from the throne, Dewey was able to provide his own funding, securing our researchers by using the guise that the money was coming from the military. Months passed before we discovered the truth, and by then, it was too late. The main weapon system had already been developed and shipped. Even after realizing it, we had to comply because, as you pointed out, he now has his finger on the trigger of what could be called a superweapon. And now…the only thing keeping Dewey from bombarding us is the fact that you're here. You've gathered up a sizeable amount of the pieces before the game has really even begun. I'm no expert on all of the theories about Eureka's purpose, but I know that she's integral in Dewey's plans. If she were to be killed, which she most likely would be if such a calamity were to take place here, then everything would fall apart for him. The boy, too, Adrock's son; he somehow factors into all of this as well. You'll have to talk to Greg about all of that, though. Holland, I'm afraid that you've unwittingly played into Dewey's hand. He wanted the Nirvash to come here and be repaired, so that it can be used as well" Morita stated coldly. After contemplating the scientists' words for a few moments, Holland cleared his throat, released Morita's shirt, and turned once again to look out the window. He glanced out just in time to see quite an unusual sight. Eureka and Renton, both dripping wet, were heading across the floor of the garage toward the open catapult of the Gekko. Eureka was leading Renton, who had a bloody cheek for some reason, by the hand. Suppressing the amusement and curiosity he felt after seeing such a strange thing, Holland turned to face Morita, "You mentioned that I should talk to Dr. Bear. Is he here?" "He's actually on his way now." Morita replied.

* * *

Renton and Eureka made their way through the mostly-empty halls of the Gekko quite noisily; their wet shoes constantly squeaked against the floor. When they neared the medical room, the pair noticed a slumbering Dominic, who was sitting with his back propped against the wall. They were both quite amused that the clamor they were making hadn't even fazed the slumbering soldier. As they passed the door to Mischa's office, which also served as the ship's modestly-sized sick bay, Renton turned to enter, but Eureka kept going, pulling the boy along with her. "Hey, aren't we going in…?" he whispered. "No, Anemone is sleeping in there. Don't worry, there are bandages and everything else we need in the storage closet in the bathroom" she answered quietly. As Renton and Eureka walked onward, three small figures emerged from behind the corner they had been hiding behind, eyeing Dominic mischievously.

The drenched teenagers eventually reached the entrance to the women's restroom, and Renton stopped at the door. "Aren't you coming?" Eureka questioned. Renton was blushing, afraid of sounding childish "Don't you think you should check if anyone is in there? Or couldn't you just get the things you need and bring them out here?" he asked. "No one's here. Besides, we need the sink to wash the blood off" she stated precisely before opening the door. Renton sighed before reluctantly following her, taking one last hurried look around to make sure no one was watching him enter the restroom of the wrong gender.

Eureka turned the water on and instructed Renton to put his face under the stream of liquid. He complied, but there seemed to be no immediate effect. She soon noticed that the pressure of the water was insufficient to properly wash the wound on Renton's cheek, and wet a washcloth with warm water. Without a word, she brought it up to his face, and began to gently clean the blood off. The boy's face bore a deep blush once again as he watched the care and determination displayed on Eureka's face as she cleaned the blood off of his cheek. Renton was taken by the outright strangeness of what was happening to him. Eureka, soaked to the bone and shivering slightly, was ignoring the discomfort she must have been in and tenderly treating his tiny "injury" as if he was all that mattered to her. _"With kids like hers, I'm sure Eureka has got this whole doctor thing down to a science"_ Renton thought, all the while trying to suppress the rampant blush he knew was currently marking his face. She looked quite similar to a surgeon treating a life-threatening injury.

Eureka eventually stopped scrubbing Renton's face and simply held the clean side of the towel to his cheek. "Umm…are you done?" the boy stammered. "I'm just keeping pressure until I'm sure you've stopped bleeding. She said. Renton could barely make out her words over the chattering of both of their teeth; their bodies' feeble attempts to create warmth. "Bleeding is much more abundant on the head than on any other part of the body because of all the blood vessels located there" she stated factually between a few violent shivering fits. A wonderful eternity seemed to pass as Eureka simply stood before him with a determined look, applying slight pressure to his cheek. The sight would have been quite confusing if anyone were there to see it. The two stood totally still, while Renton debated whether or not to keep looking into her eyes. In the end, he found himself totally entranced, unable to look away.

When she was finally satisfied with the job she had done, Eureka removed the towel and nodded triumphantly. "The cut doesn't go too deep, thankfully," she said as she bent down to retrieve a blue bottle of disinfectant solution and a small bandage. "Close your eyes, Renton" she said, while pausing to brush a lock of her soaked hair from her own eyes. The boy complied, and felt a slight burning sensation when the substance was sprayed onto the cut. Eureka then carefully placed the small bandage over the wound, and smiled yet again. "Finished" she said.

Renton was surprised. It was such a contrast to the only other time she had done something like this. Back when the kids went on a pranking spree, which had culminated when they pushed Renton off of a ladder, Eureka had offered to help bandage a scrape on Renton's back, but was anything but gentle when applying said bandage. "Th-thank you, Eureka" he said. He couldn't help but notice the flushed look adorning Eureka's cheeks, and felt a bit worried. "You should probably get out of those wet clothes and take a hot shower or something. You look like you're catching a cold" he said suddenly, feeling incredibly awkward after he realized what he had just suggested. Eureka seemed to take no offense however. "You're right, you should probably do the same, Renton" she advised. Renton nodded, "Alright, sounds good. Umm..Eureka, when you're finished, do you want to go get lunch?" he questioned, forsaking his nervousness and acting on impulse. "Sure" she replied; as she bent down to remove her footwear. "Alright, I'll see you then." A relieved Renton said before almost slipping on the large puddle of water that had formed underneath the two of them as he turned to leave. Eureka chuckled at Renton's overly dramatic reaction, advising him to be more careful before making her way toward the shower and removing the jacket he had lent her. She examined the drenched jacket admiringly before carefully folding it and placing it on a bench near the shower. She then started the water in the shower, allowing it to warm up, yet again sighing. The warmth and comfort that the water would provide could never measure up to the same feelings brought about by that embrace.

* * *

Leaning back in his office chair while sipping a cup of coffee and glancing over the original schematics of the Nirvash's armor, Morita was startled by a sudden crackling sound followed by a voice. He narrowly avoided spilling the piping hot liquid all over himself. The voice on the radio repeated its greeting. Morita set down his cup and the blueprints, answered the transmission, listened to what the speaker had to say, and then made his way out of the room. After a bit of searching, he found Holland, Hap, and Matthieu watching the storm through one of the facility's windows. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, getting the attention of the three Gekkostate members. "It seems that violent storms like this are coming more and more often lately; it's as if the planet's weather is mirroring the violence that takes place between humans every day" he remarked in a philosophical tone. "Who knows…?" Hap said. A bright flash suddenly startled Hap and Matthieu, making them jump backwards. "What the?" Matthieu began to ask, but he soon noticed a chuckling Stoner approaching with his camera drawn. "You guys are too easy" he said, lighting a cigarette. Holland was not visibly affected by the sudden flash, and turned his attention toward the raven-haired scientist who had recently walked into the area. "Enough with the musings, chief. What is it that you need?" Holland asked bluntly, obviously not amused by Morita's observations or Stoner's lame attempt at a prank.

"Holland, I've got some news" Morita said when the heavily windowed hallway was silent once more. "Well, what is it?" Holland Novak asked with only a bit of interest. "Dr. Bear's ship is in the area, but the storm is keeping them from landing. They'll stay in a holding pattern until everything calms down" the lab chief told him. "Alright, thanks for the update" Holland said, turning back to look out the window. "How long is the storm supposed to last?" questioned Hap. "It's a large system, but with the way the wind is moving it, it'll be outta here in less than an hour" Holland told him before walking away abruptly. "What's up with him?" asked Matthieu when Holland was out of earshot. "Your guess is as good as mine, he's had a tendency for sudden moodiness since we were kids" Hap said.

* * *

Straining his neck to look at his back in the mirror, Renton groaned. Several large bruises, which resulted from several hits by hailstones, had already appeared on his skin. He smiled, thankful that he had been the one that received the blows, and not Eureka. Renton was quite grateful for the fact that he had been hit first and had managed to make himself a barrier between the girl and the danger before she had taken a hit. With a sigh, he entered the hot water of the shower, cringing as it contacted his back. It felt quite refreshing to know that he was no longer in danger of hypothermia. Renton couldn't help but smile as he pondered all that had happened so far that day. Lately, things with Eureka seemed to be going great. He was already looking forward to talking to the girl again over a nice lunch.

The boy, after several minutes, reluctantly turned the knob, which in turn, cut off the flow of warm, comforting water. He could still hear the sound of water running from the other side of the bathroom wall; Eureka was still in the shower. He reached around the outside of the shower door, moving his hand around a bit before finally finding the towel rack and grabbing a large, white and green towel adorned with the Gekkostate emblem. He slowly dried himself off and eyed his soaked clothing with a bit of annoyance. Renton, clad only in boxers, made his way to the laundry room to place his wet clothes in the dryer. "Wow, I'm becoming Holland, strolling around the ship like this" he pointed out to himself, catching a quick laugh at the fact that he had finally begun to consider this place home.

* * *

"This device…So this is what cost Adrock Thurston his life, huh?" Sonia Wakabayashi asked herself, ogling the small, triangular mechanism which topped the Nirvash's compac drive. While assessing the repairs that would be needed in the Nirvash's cockpit, the blonde haired scientist had been distracted by the purple hue of the strange piece of technology. It seemed almost ridiculous that such a tiny thing had once been on the verge of totally destroying the world in the Summer of Love. She reached out slowly toward the Amita Drive, carefully making her hand advance. Just before she made contact, she was startled by a voice from overhead, and quickly withdrew her hand.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing, placing all of this fear and doubt on my grandson's shoulders?" a man's voice asked. No longer feeling startled, Sonia lifted her eyes to look at the aging man. "Oh, it's you, Axel." She said. It was a while before she responded to her former colleague's question. Sonia remembered Axel, or, as many Tresor employees had called him, the "grumpy old man" only slightly. They had once worked together in the early days before Eureka was discovered, before Sonia was assigned to research her. Though she couldn't even seem to recall what circumstances brought them into the same division, Sonia did remember that back then she had always held a quiet admiration for his courage in speaking out against their higher-ups. Carefully weighing her answer, she finally spoke up. "I…I don't have any children, Axel. I have no idea what kind of responsibilities are passed down to younger generations. Besides, I've never really thought of right and wrong as existing outside of the scientific world, things which are purely objective" she remarked. "I'm not trying to debate the existence of morality with you" the man told her wearily. "If you're looking for some kind of comfort…or reassurance that the choice you've made is the best one-" she began. "No, that's not... I just…I wonder if this is what my son would have wanted for Renton" he said.

"Thinking back, I can't remember ever knowing a person that was more driven in reaching his goals. Adrock loved his family, but they all took a backseat to his research. After his death, I began to wonder if I had made some sort of mistake in raising him. It bothered me so often; I questioned if I had taught him to deal with ambition properly. That sort of thing was so foreign to me. After all, I was more than happy to settle down and live the life of a simple mechanic after the small dose of adventure in my life. Working with machines was my passion, just like Adrock's passion was to seek out the mysteries of the world. Maybe I believed that just because he had often helped me in repairs that he would eventually come around to join the family business. I later found out that was simply not the case. Even so, I considered myself at least adequate when it came to balancing my two major roles: a father and a worker. But was I really? Had I fallen short somewhere? Was there something in my life which had curbed my dangerous aspirations early on which I had somehow deprived my son of? After his death, it wasn't long before I saw an abrupt change in Diane. She became like him. No longer the bashful little girl I had known, she became bold and sometimes defiant. She even asked Holland to date her, something that her former self would never do. She became driven in her own research as well, following in her father's footsteps. After she left for the last time, and I was left alone with Renton, I decided the answer must be to simply suppress the desire of the boy's heart. After all, if he never understood the vastness of the world around him, he would never even consider venturing out into what he would otherwise think was simply waiting for him. That was what I thought, anyway. Sure, I gave him some freedom. I let him lift. More often than not, I limited him, though. I was trying to force my own career onto him, rather then waiting to see what he would do like I had tried with Adrock. But I found the more I limited his future, the more he strove to break free. Perhaps my solution is what caused him to become wrapped up in all this in the first place. If Renton had grown complacent and planned out a future for himself, he would have been much more hesitant to throw his future away by joining that band of renegades. But now…he's in love with the girl and apparently willing to give his life up for her at a moment's notice. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud of him, but… is my pride really worth all of that? Would Adrock, realizing what his own priorities had cost him and Diane, have wanted his little boy to become wrapped up in this horrible task? You should have heard me when I went after Holland for becoming so complacent. I acted as if I really…as if I had everything together. But that resolve seems to have left me. Now I'm so conflicted…" Axel said before looking down to peer at the floor.

Sonia quietly made her way out the cockpit and onto the catwalk, approaching the man. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Renton is who he is. He's doing this not because you made him or drove him to it, but of his own will. He loves Eureka and…in light of that fact, I don't think the rest of it matters. He made his choice to not let the wishes of his father or yourself be forced onto him. Besides, wouldn't you do the same thing if you were in his situation? He doesn't understand the large majority of what's going on, but, even so, he's in love. Where that will take him is unclear right now, but to simply let the girl face the world by herself because of his own fear just seems wrong. I think the right thing to do is to let him proceed. After all, if Greg's theories are correct, and if Renton really is some kind of partner, then Renton is not just Eureka's only hope, but the whole world's hope as well," she advised, radiating confidence.

The old man raised his eyes to meet the blonde woman's, and a small, grateful smile made its way onto his face. Newfound determination swelled within him. "Well, then. Renton won't be able to do much for the world or for Eureka with this wreck of an LFO. I won't rest until this machine is back in full working order," he asserted. "I'm with you" she stated confidently before turning with a stern face to two young techies at ground level who were slowly hauling a cart filled with supplies towards the elevator which lead to the catwalk she and Axel stood upon. "You two, hurry up and get that trapar detector up here for installation! We don't have time for laziness and you aren't getting a break until you've constructed communications and radar devices which perform even better than the state-of-the-art pieces we just shipped to the military! Amp up the range on both to at least double that of what the UF's tech can do! Oh, and make sure that the devices are only about half as bulky as the old ones outlined in the Type: ZERO's original blueprints! This LFO needs to retain its speed at all costs! That's its main advantage!" she yelled. "Wh-WHAT!? Two times the range and half the size!? That would take months to develop!" the technician pushing the cart shouted in despair. "Gather up our specialists and pull an all-nighter to draw up the plans. I want it done by tomorrow at noon! There's a reason that Tresor is known as the military's finest tech laboratory! The scientists here created a sophisticated combat machine from a mass of organic material dug up in a cave! I don't think this is asking much compared to that," she lectured as the two loaded the cart containing the trapar level reader onto the elevator and turned, with tears in their eyes, to begin a long night of brainstorming and development.

Turning back to face the old man, who looked a bit irritated at all of the yelling that had just taken place, Sonia took on a mischievous look. "Speaking of the Nirvash's speed…I've been thinking about updating its thrusters. Even though it already vastly outdoes even the specialized Terminus units in terms of speed, something tells me the Nirvash isn't quite on par with that black LFO Gekkostate brought in. If it ever runs into anything like that again, the outcome will be the same. Since adding more weapons to the Nirvash simply isn't viable, I think increasing its capabilities in terms of speed is the way to go. Some of our scientists have been looking into lightweight armors and advanced, high-speed thrusters. These are experimental, of course, but the Nirvash itself was completely experimental in the first place, so I can't see any real harm. Anyway, the lack of weapons on the machine allows for a greater placement of boosters and…" the scientist continued, laying out her plan to the old mechanic, who listened intently and asked questions throughout her description.

* * *

Dominic groggily opened his eyes at the sound of someone's amused laughter. None other than Renton Thurston stood over him. Dominic suddenly realized that Renton was now clad in the red running suit he had worn in his picture on the cover of Ray=Out. The boy was definitely enjoying himself. "What?" Dominic asked groggily with a hint of irritation, but at this question Renton only laughed harder. "The-the kids…they…" he began to explain, his voice intermittently broken by fits of laughter. Dominic couldn't understand the boy's confusing reaction to whatever was so amusing until he took a look down at the Gekko's shiny, metallic floor, which revealed his reflection. Several shapes, namely, a moustache, beard, and monocle had been inked onto Dominic's face with some sort of marker. "Damn, first the water balloon and now this?" he groaned, trying to rub the markings from his face with his hand, but to no avail.

"W-water balloon?" Renton questioned, breaking from his laughter. "Yeah, they pegged me right in the face with one when I was forced to clean up the Gekko," he said, irritated. "Hopefully they'll leave you alone soon. If they put you through all the stuff I went through…you'll probably be ready to kill them" Renton told the older boy. "They pull pranks on you, too?" Dominic questioned. "They used to. Drawing on my face, embarrassing me, pushing me off of ladders…" Dominic cringed at the last one. "It's laid off now that we have a 'mutual understanding'. I think the only reason I got it so bad in the first place is because they knew that I…well…anyway, maybe they're just having a bit of fun with you. You know? It's probably like hazing the newcomer in their minds." Renton told Dominic. "How, exactly, did you come to this understanding and get it to stop?" Dominic questioned. "Well, I took the blame for something they did. That let them understand that I wasn't trying to replace them, I guess. With you, I guess it's just playful hazing that will end when they get bored of you and move on to another victim"

"Great" Dominic murmured, before finally allowing himself to laugh at the crude drawings marking his face. He had to admit that he looked quite hilarious. "There's a sink in the bathroom down that hallway and to the left. You'll see a sign. There are washcloths in the drawers under the sink. You're gonna need some serious washing with soap to get that ink off" Renton advised from experience, sensing that Dominic wasn't too fond of looking so ridiculous. "Thanks" the ex-soldier stated before heading toward the bathroom. "Hey, Dominic!" Renton suddenly called as Dominic began to leave. "Yeah, what is it?" he replied. "Maybe if you got them with a good prank, and I mean a good one. A prank to put all of theirs to shame...maybe that would put a stop to it. I doubt they'd be childish enough to retaliate after realizing that they've been outdone by an adult." "That sounds good to me. Tell me if you get any ideas, Renton" he replied. "Will do!" Thurston said before turning and almost walking straight into Eureka. Dominic smiled, deciding to leave the two alone and tend to his own problem.

For a few moments, the two simply stared at each other.

Renton searched the eyes of the girl who had completely changed his life, looking for any clues to her feelings. He found himself looking at the girl less and less as some enigma and more and more like a blessing; an angel that had rescued him from a life in which he only cared about his own interests. _"Eureka can't be blamed for her past. She was deprived of any semblance of childhood; forced to live her early life as a soldier. By the time she realized that the things she was doing were wrong, it was too late to take them back. So she's always looked at herself as a terrible person, as evil and wicked and wrong. But Eureka didn't choose any of that! She was used by selfish fools as a weapon and left broken as a result. None of it is her fault. But she's told herself that lie so often that she's now convinced that she is evil. It's not her responsibility to atone for the things in her past. But if she feels that she must even though she knows it isn't her fault, someone needs to help her bear that burden. If she takes it on by herself…it will only make things worse. That's why I…I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you. I'll keep the whole world at bay if that's what it takes to show you that someone truly cares about you regardless of what you've been before! If there's any strength in these hands at all, I'll use them to protect Eureka with my life!" _Renton thought, as he curled his hands into loose fists.

Eureka stared at the boy who had given up so much to follow her; who had risked everything to ensure she safely returned to the Gekko after their earlier skirmish with Anemone in theEND. If he had not moved her from her seat, she would have been killed by theEND's lasers. If he had not placed all of his focus on getting her out of the stranded Nirvash, if he had cared for his own life more than hers, she would have died from the crushing impact against the ground that they both expected at the time. Renton had held true to his promise. He had sworn to protect her and had done so numerous times now. _"What does it mean when someone is constantly focused on being of help to someone else?" _she wondered. Even Holland, who had taken her out of the military and had always tried to look out for her, had other things which usually preoccupied him_. "But Renton…Renton is always there, even when it's not convenient or easy for him. He took full responsibility for an accident that the kids, who had been nothing but mean to him, had caused. He stayed at my side even after I told him about my past and my role in Ciudades del Cielo's destruction. He didn't blame me for all of the horrible things I've done" _she smiled, feeling both confused and thankful._ "Renton is always watching over me, protecting me, even if doing so causes him to suffer. Always, __**always**__ protecting," _the very thought made her heart race.

After his bit of contemplation had come to a close, Renton began to grow uncomfortable in the silence, and cleared his throat in an unrealistically loud manner. By doing so, he managed to accomplish his objective, which was to get Eureka's attention. "Shall we go?" he questioned in a polite tone. "Sure" she said happily. "Oh, Renton, I almost forgot," she said while offering him the jacket he had lent her "it's still a little wet…I'm sorry" said the girl quietly. "Oh, that's alright, no need to apologize. After all, I'd be pretty selfish to keep it to myself and let you take the brunt of the storm" Renton told her, donning the slightly damp item of clothing.

They were both ready to go, and yet, they still stood completely still. Eureka berated herself, wondering why it now seemed so much harder to take the boy's hand in her own. Back at Renton's now-demolished home in Bellforest, she had instantly taken Renton's hand in order to reassure him that he should join the crew of the Gekko. Even earlier today, when she had been taking him to treat his wound, she had instantly performed the action. Now, the notion of doing so seemed absurd and dangerous. With a forced swallow, she slowly inched her fingers around his and pulled his hand lightly. "Come on, let's go eat" she said, accidentally losing her grip and then not having the courage to retake his hand. She reluctantly settled for striding along close to his side towards the kitchen.

Renton frowned as he glanced at the minimal selection of food available in the Gekko's under-stocked pantry and freezer. _"The leaders of Gekkostate are a bunch of cheapskates"_ he pointed out to his own mind. A large stack of frozen Pizza-la pizzas and a few cups of ramen were the only actual food items. The rest of the goods were mostly junk food like chips. "Well, there's not much to choose from. Pizza or ramen, Eureka?" he inquired of the girl seated on the counter with her legs dangling a few inches from the ground. In truth, Renton was extremely nervous, but was doing an astonishingly good job of hiding it. _"After all,"_ he thought, _"this is the first time Eureka and I have ever gone on a 'date'." _"Let's go with ramen" she stated after a small amount of consideration. Renton nodded, "Looks like the only flavors left are pork and shrimp. Which would you like?"

"I'd like shrimp, please" she answered, seemingly disinterested in such a trivial thing as the flavor of the meal, but still managing to sound polite. "Shrimp it is," Renton said, grabbing two cups of the noodles with shrimp and then placing them beside Eureka. Having memorized the cooking instructions from preparing the cheap ramen so many times, Renton ran the precise amount of water needed to make two servings into a stainless steel pot and set it on one of the multiple stoves in the Gekko's kitchen. _"This kitchen was, after all, made to cater to a large crew,"_ Renton surmised. He then turned the cooking device on and hoisted himself up to sit beside Eureka.

While they waited for the water to boil, Eureka and Renton, both a bit insecure, struggled to find a good topic to chat about. Eureka seemed to want to steer clear of discussing her feelings of impending danger, and Renton did not push the conversation in that direction. Instead, he gladly answered a long line of questions about his life back in Bellforest. Eureka seemed to be captivated by things which Renton considered completely mundane, such as the topics covered in Renton's old school_. "I guess it's because she never really experienced any of it firsthand…"_ he guessed. Surprisingly, Eureka seemed to be more interested in finding about Renton's life rather than interrogating him about his father and whether all the stories about him saving the world were true. That alone set her apart from almost everyone he had ever met.

When the water finally reached a boil Renton stood up and went over to the stove. He turned it down a bit and added the contents of the ramen cups to the hot water. He then stirred the noodles around, watching as they changed from a rigid block to a mess of thin, stringy matter. Meanwhile, Eureka brought herself up on the tips of her toes in order to retrieve two bowls from the top shelf of one of the many cabinets. She brought them to the boy who thanked her and, finally satisfied with his 'cooking', poured out equal parts of the noodle soup into each bowl, only spilling a bit of broth, which he promptly proceeded to wipe up. He then took both of the hot bowls to the dining area while Eureka followed, snagging two spoons on her way out of the kitchen.

Now in the previously-deserted dining area, the two sat across from each other at the low table, occasionally slurping as they tried to take in the longer noodles which drooped from their spoons. Eureka was bringing a moderately-sized bite up to blow on it when she suddenly sneezed. The contents of her spoon flew out onto the table, carried by the force of her sneeze. "Bless you!" Renton said. Eureka made an attempt to apologize, but the first sneeze was quickly followed by two more. "That's not good; it looks like you may have caught a cold after all. I shouldn't have let you stay out there wearing only a dress and a light jacket!" Renton said with alarm. "No, I'm fine" she said, sniffling. "You don't sound fine, Eureka" he admonished, "Maybe you should go lie down. Are you feeling cold?" "A little bit" the girl responded. This answer only served to fuel the overly-concerned Renton.

"You should at least go get a blanket" he pointed out. "But, I-" she said, stopping when she realized that arguing with Renton about this sort of thing wasn't going to go favorably for her. "I want to finish eating with you, so… Why don't we finish eating in my room? I have a blanket in there and I can go to sleep after we finish" she decided. "I guess if that's alright with you, Eureka" he finally responded, feeling elated by the fact that she was so concerned about finishing their lunch together and also criticizing himself for not getting her out of the storm sooner. She nodded in confirmation, and Renton took her bowl for her. The two made their way to the area of the ship which contained the crew's quarters.

The door to Eureka's room automatically opened and Renton and Eureka entered. Eureka, seeking to ease Renton's needless worry, quickly obeyed his request. She sat down on the bed and bundled herself in a large, thick blanket which had been lying on her bunk. A slight coughing spell that shook her body soon after she had wrapped herself up began to make her think that Renton was right about her being sick, though. "Are you alright? Can I get you anything?" Renton asked, worried. "No, I'll be fine" she restated, taking her half-full bowl of ramen from him. The two continued eating; Eureka was lying down, propped up on her pillow to make eating easier while Renton sat on the end of the bed, watching her with unease.

The two bowls were eventually placed on the ground beside Eureka's bed, and the girl let out a yawn. "I'm tired" she said simply. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't mind a nap either. If you're going to sleep, I guess I'll see you later" he said, rising to leave. A sudden question by Eureka halted his departure. "Would you stay here until I've fallen asleep? I've had a lot of trouble getting any rest lately…and I think having…someone at my side might help…" she asked, almost pleading. Renton instantly knew there was no way he could ever even attempt to deny that request from her. "Sure, I'll sit here until you manage to fall asleep" he said soothingly, scooting further up the bed and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She smiled gratefully, wondering if his presence would make it any easier to rest. It did not take long to find the answer. Extended periods of darkness occurred between her glimpses of the boy sitting silently at her side on her bed. Soon, so quickly, in fact that it would have surprised her if she were conscious to realize it, everything went black. Eureka's breathing quieted, and she was engulfed in sleep, which was, for her, consistently dreamless.

While waiting for Eureka to get to sleep, Renton found that the time he took to open his eyes after blinking was growing increasingly longer. His eyes were so very heavy_._ The room was so dark and quiet and comfortable. Not to mention the girl slumbering right next to him, who looked so very cozy in her own sleep._ "No, I can't fall asleep here…"_ he scolded himself. The prospect of yielding to the heaviness of his eyelids grew more and more enticing, though. Soon the thought of resisting had all but vanished; his muscles relaxed and he slumped over onto the cot. Everything was shaded in a calming darkness.

* * *

It was just after 4 p.m. when Dr. Bear's small shuttle finally touched down on the runway. Holland was beginning to regret skipping lunch; now he'd have to wait until after he talked with the scientist to get something to eat. He was feeling incredibly exhausted and was not looking forward to gathering up everyone who needed to attend the meeting with the rather husky scientist. When Talho strolled into the room, he immediately seized the opportunity to have someone else take care of the task. "Hey, Talho, would you head down to the ship and go get Eureka? If you see Mischa on the way, tell her the meeting is taking place in Morita's office" he said before standing up. "Why don't you do it yourself?" she asked, irritated. "I've got something to talk to Hap about, sorry" he said before walking away. Talho groaned before turning on her heel and heading to the Gekko. By chance she passed the red haired scientist and doctor of the Gekko on the way and informed her about the plans.

Talho was forced to endure quite a hike to reach her destination; the only way onto the ship was to climb the gigantic catapult. She made the long trek in silence, wishing that there was some way she could have just radioed the ship. Slightly out of breath, she finally came to a stop at the entrance to the young girl's bedroom and the automatic door opened itself with a small hiss. She was immediately surprised by the size of the form under blanket. _"Are the kids in the bed with her?"_ she wondered to herself. Talho also found the two empty bowls on the floor beside the bunk bed highly suspicious. She began to gently pull the blanket down from around whoever was sleeping in the bed and was startled when she saw someone's brown hair sticking out from under the top edge of the blanket. At that sight, she quickly yanked it away and was absolutely dumbfounded by the sight she saw. On the small bunk bed were Renton **and** Eureka. The slumbering boy mumbled something about being cold and Eureka began to shiver slightly as she nestled herself more closely to him in her sleep. Talho simply stood watching with unbelievably wide eyes for a few moments before finally unleashing a quite sizeable reaction. "Wh-wh-what the hell are you two doing?!" she yelled, causing Renton to hurriedly sit up and slam his head against the top bunk. The sudden motion and noise roused Eureka from her sleep and she instantly sneezed. Renton instinctively said "bless you" while still clutching his head. When he finally opened his eyes to see an angry Talho standing just inches away, Renton felt quite a bit of fear.

The Gekko's pilot grabbed Renton's arm and forcefully removed him from the bed. He landed in a heap on the ground while Eureka looked on in dazed confusion. She couldn't remember how exactly they had ended up sleeping there. "Ow, that hurt!" the boy complained to Talho, who was still eyeing him with some anger. "You better be glad I'm the one who found you and not Holland! You would have gotten the beating of your life if he had seen this, Renton.". "Miss Talho, I-" Renton began, a bit flustered. "You still didn't answer my question! What were you two doing? Why were you sleeping in the same bed?" Renton let out the breath he had been holding and wondered where to begin. "Well, Eureka and I were eating lunch together and she started sneezing a lot. I guess she got sick from staying out in the rain so long" he said. Talho quickly turned to Eureka, who sniffled a bit, as if to confirm Renton's claim. Eureka's eyes were still half closed; she obviously wasn't completely awake yet. "Go on" Talho said, turning back to Renton. "I told her she should go lie down, but Eureka wanted us to finish the meal together. She said we could finish in here and then she would go to sleep. So we came in here and ate, and I was going to leave, but Eureka asked me to stay awhile longer. Eventually she fell asleep and I guess I did too without realizing it" he said, hoping the woman wasn't going to punch him.

"Sounds to me like you were trying to take advantage of a sick girl who was asleep, Renton" she said, switching to her usual teasing voice. "No way! Of course not!" he responded defensively, pausing when he heard a yawn from the girl reclining on the bed who had been watching the entire exchange; Eureka didn't quite understand why Talho was so angry that Renton had been sleeping in Eureka's room. "What Renton said is true, Talho" the girl said wearily, laying her head back down. Although she did not fully comprehend the situation, Eureka did realize that Renton could be in trouble if his story was not verified. "Is it, now?" Talho asked curiously, pointing a wry smile at the boy. Renton was starting to become lost as to whether Talho's reaction was an act intended to make fun of him. "In any case, you need to come with me, Eureka. Holland wants you to meet with Doctor Bear. Do you remember him?" Talho asked. Eureka simply nodded before forcing herself to leave the comfortable bed.

Eureka and Talho made their way to Morita's office with Renton lagging a few steps behind them. He already doubted that he would be welcome at whatever gathering was about to take place, but he had decided to see what was going on. Talho looked back at him, irritated. "If you're going to walk with us, don't get so far behind like that. What are you doing, anyway?" she queried. "Well, I don't have anything better to do…" he said, eyeing the ground. The woman answered with a simple "Hmph" as Renton jogged for a few seconds to reach Eureka's side. The girl gave him a half-smile, concentrating more on the task at hand; keeping her weary eyes open and walking was consuming much of her willpower. Several minutes passed before the party of three reached the door to the lab chief's office.

Renton eyed the occupants of the room skeptically. In the office was the lab chief named Morita that Axel had quickly introduced Renton to, along with an unbelievably huge man, Mischa, and Holland. Mischa was eyeing the rotund, tall man with what Renton perceived as either distress or loathing. Holland leaned lazily against the wall right inside the entrance which Eureka, Renton, and Talho now stood by. "Great, you're here, Eureka," Holland greeted, followed by a quick "Thanks, Talho". Talho scowled, "How did that meeting with Hap that you were oh-so concerned about go, Holland?"

"Huh, what meeting?" the man asked without thinking, eliciting an even bigger frown from Talho. "Oh-that meeting-" he said, trying to cover up for the lie which he had quickly cooked up to get out of retrieving Eureka earlier. "Save it" the woman said before walking into the room. He shrugged lightly before beckoning for Eureka to advance. The girl complied, and Renton took a step to follow her. "Hold on, Renton. This doesn't really concern you", Gekkostate's leader interjected, getting between the boy and the door. Renton's face made his irritation quite obvious. "Well, actually, if this is Renton Thurston, it does con-" Dr. Bear started to point out before receiving a glare from Holland which silenced him. "Look, if Eureka wants to tell you about it, she can later. Right now, it would just take too long to bring you up to date" Holland said matter-of-factly before closing the door while sarcastically saying "Why don't you go lifting, or something, Renton? Alright, shall we get this thing started?" Holland asked while turning to face everyone inside Morita's office. It wasn't that he was trying to be antagonistic toward Renton, Holland just wanted to finish up quickly so he could finally eat lunch. He was taken somewhat off guard when his eyes settled on Eureka's face. It bore a nearly identical look to the angry face Renton had just made. Holland, not used to seeing any noticeable emotion on Eureka's face, did a quick double-take to make sure he was not seeing things, and then turned to Talho. "Wh-why is she looking at me like that?" Talho smirked, having a pretty good idea as to the reason. "Who knows…" she said, before having a bit of a laugh at the man's expense.

Shaking off his confusion, Holland addressed the large scientist known by his friends and colleagues as Dr. Bear. "So, you're finally here. Sorry to sound so pushy, but could you explain exactly what is going on?" Dr. Bear cleared his throat. "You seem to be doing well, Holland, Talho, Eureka," he paused momentarily as he turned to Mischa, "you too, my little cub." "Enough with that ridiculous nickname, Greg" the Gekko's doctor demanded. "Fine, fine. I'll get right to the point. The world is about to come to an end and, you," he said, pointing to Eureka, "are very important to preventing the destruction of the entire earth". Eureka was a bit surprised. "Me?" she questioned. "Yes, you. You, my dear, were sent from the scub corals in an attempt to prevent the annihilation of both the humans and the scubs. You, along with the Type ZERO, are the scub's final call to humankind" he explained. "Their last call?" Holland asked the scientist. "That's right. According to my calculations, the material world would have been wiped out long ago if it were not for the intervention corals" Dr. Bear replied. "What do you mean by tha-" Talho started to ask, but her voice was drowned out by Mischa's. "You're beginning based on your theory that the scub coral is a sentient being? I've told you over and over, there's just no legitimate evidence to support that conclusion!" she asserted bluntly. Her ex-husband, Dr. Bear groaned with frustration before remembering his ace-in-the-hole argument. "Then, explain her; a being which performs all of the life processes inherent to humans, despite not truly being human" he challenged, once again gesturing to Eureka. Eureka appeared unfazed at the remark, but the reminder of her own dissimilarity with everyone else made an unpleasant feeling surface. Mischa, unable to come up with any explanation, finally surrendered. "Fine…I grant that your hypothesis has some degree of merit" she said.

"Thank you" he said with genuine surprise at her remark, "Now, back to what I was saying before… It's not that I completely understand her role, but I do know that Eureka was sent to understand humans, more specifically, to examine the extent of the bonds that could be formed with a human. I believe this has something to do with helping the coral decide just how much sacrifice on its own part it should make in order to protect humanity, or perhaps, to decide if humanity is worth saving in the first place" he continued. Holland was immediately reminded of his one an only meeting with Norb. _"Seek out her partner. The one who can make her smile from her deepest heart"_ the Voderak priest had told him. _"Can it be that the partner, the one that unconditionally loves Eureka, is the key to convincing the scub to aid humans? If so, then…"_ he speculated. Holland, instead of thinking more on the matter, decided to tune back in on Dr. Bear's speech. "…theory, also known as the 'Limit of Questions' theory, is detailed in the end of the Ageha report. It basically states that there is a limit to the amount of sentient life that can exist in one area. If this limit is crossed, the excess of sentient life will be completely wiped out to prevent a catastrophic collapse of the entire universe. I no longer consider it to be a simple theory, however. My studies of the Great Wall suggest that such an event began to take place on our planet several millennia ago, but was halted by the scubs. They managed to go into hibernation; they cut down the widespread sentience they had amassed as a result of fusing with other life forms by resulting to only using a small, concentrated command consciousness which kept them alive, but did not endanger the planet. However, the increase in the planet's human population has now brought us close to reaching the limit of questions. It's a classic case of the phrase 'something's got to give'. Thankfully for us, the coral is for some reason interested in preserving humans. They're using Eureka as a sort of invitation. If humans, or rather, Eureka's chosen partner who will represent humanity to the scubs…if the partner is shown to be someone worth saving, the scub will act on our behalf. In essence, the scub is not averse to seeking out a way to protect humanity along with itself, but I'm afraid it will not do so unless it can be convinced that the humans are capable of laying aside their differences with the coralians and working with them to save the world" he explicated, unwrapping a small piece of his favorite strawberry-flavored candy and proceeding to eat it.

"I'm confused. How will we know who the partner is? How exactly will the scub determine if the partner is good enough to merit saving all humans? How will Eureka's partner even appear before the scubs to be judged?" Talho questioned. Eureka was silent, letting all of this information sink in. She had no real memory of her origin. It seemed everyone else knew more about her purpose than she did herself. Her thoughts drifted to Renton.

"I'm sorry, but I've got no idea about any of those. Perhaps Eureka could be of help" Dr. Bear told Talho. "I really don't know about any of it, sorry" Eureka said, before Talho could ask her the same questions. Taking a second to ponder all that had been said, Morita's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "So Dewey's plan…his motive for developing anti-coralian weaponry…that's why he wants to destroy the coralians! To avoid the Limit of Questions!" he announced. Holland looked at the man with anger, while Eureka looked at him with muted shock. Holland had not yet informed Eureka of the development of coralian-specific weapons. He didn't want to risk creating any fear in her, and yet this announcement was extremely abrupt and blunt. If he had ever decided to tell her, Holland would have downplayed the significance of the affair quite a bit. This way of finding out was sure to shake the girl. He turned to Eureka and noticed that she looked a bit pale, but then recalled that she had looked that way when she had arrived in the room. _"It must have something to do with why she was mad, and why Talho was laughing"_ he decided, feeling his stomach rumble. Impatient about getting something to eat, Holland decided to bring the meeting to an end. "Alright, we're done for now. Everyone is dismissed!" he announced before making a quick exit toward the Gekko.

* * *

**--Three days later--**

The starless night was almost disturbingly quiet. Gonzy's brow ruffled in consternation. "They are coming."

* * *

Talho groaned with utter boredom. The Gekko's bridge crew was performing one final diagnostic check before retiring to bed for the night. While Gidget chatted away on the microphone, checking the various intercom channels to verify they were working properly, Ken-Goh was assessing the amount of missiles left in the Gekko's pods. Talho had no real reason to attend this testing. Her only real jobs were to test the engines and the VRFs, but neither of those tasks could be undertaken while the Gekko was inside the Tresor garage. Hap typed away on his console's computer, doing yet another exhaustive check on every lead that might reveal the location of a missing priest. Woz, giving one final glance to the radar screen before preparing to leave, saw something which made his eyes widen and his heart speed up. "All right, guys, I think we're all se-" Hap said, standing up and stretching.

"Hold on, I've got something on the radar! Multiple craft inbound!" Woz shouted as several blips appeared on the radar console's screen. "How many, what direction?" questioned Hap as he ran to look over the man's shoulder. "They're all over the place; there are five separate signals already!" Woz advised, "They're descending on top of the facility! They look like small landing shuttles. They're most likely only lightly armed to increase speed capabilities". "Lower the catapult and get the 606 and 808 rolled out and ready for launch right away!" Hap commanded. "No response from the catapult! It looks like we're already being hacked!" Ken-Goh yelled. "Remotely!? There's no way that they could have! Do you think that soldier we captured is working with them?" Woz asked.

Hap ignored the question, and ran back to his seat beside Talho. "I'm sealing off all of the outer hatches. Everyone should relocate to a more secure position. We'll prepare to take them on hand-to-hand" _"So, Holland was right…" _Talho told herself as she contacted Jobs. "Are we all set?" she asked, suppressing her anxiety. "Yes, all the necessary system controls have been rerouted to the sub-bridge. You'll have to leave now to make it here on time, though" he said calmly. "Right…Woz, come with me! We'll be running the ship's vital operations, as well as giving details on enemy positions from the sub-bridge! The rest of you, be careful"

* * *

"Awww, do we really have to go to bed now?" Maeter asked in a whiny voice. "Yes, you three were supposed to be asleep an hour ago" Eureka pointed out, feeling a bit tired herself. Somehow, getting to sleep had become even harder after that incident with Renton… The kids had just finished off a few bowls of ice cream and were preparing to take their dishes out of the mess hall to be washed. Eureka once again sneezed, and let out a small, frustrated groan. Three days had passed since she had caught the cold and yet she still had not managed to get rid of it; it seemed to drain her a great deal physically. The only good part was that Renton seemed to be extra concerned about her, and at least this cold was not as debilitating as her frequent headaches. "Hey, Eureka, what do you think of the new equipment they've been putting on Nirvash?" Renton asked, sipping a coffee: (He was preparing to spend another all-nighter working with the lab technicians on the repair of the Nirvash). "Nirvash is happy about it, so I'm glad as well" she said. "It should massively improve the specs in terms of speed and handling, or at least that's what grandpa told me yesterday" he said happily, having finally found a topic which seemed to hold her interest and take her mind off whatever she had been so worried about lately. _"Nothing's happened so far, so…"_ he pondered. "Are you sure your stomach will be able to handle the increase in speed, pukey?" the wisecracking young blonde girl, Maeter asked. "Wh- of course I can handle it!" he fake-yelled in his own defense. The children laughed, and Eureka even chuckled a bit at the jab. "Really, Renton?" she asked tentatively with the smallest hint of humor.

"_Was that __**teasing**__, from __**Eureka**__?"_ he asked himself, astonished. He had been able to talk with her a lot over the last few days, but a joke? That would definitely be a first for her. Unfortunately, he still had yet to convince Eureka to tell him what was discussed in her meeting with Holland, Talho, Mischa, Morita, and Dr. Bear earlier that week. _"What was it about that meeting that had weighed so heavily on her mind?"_ Renton wondered, feeling a bit of worry. "I'll be fine!" he asserted confidently, leaving behind the mysterious train of thought. Maurice began to form another sarcastic remark for Renton. "Why-" he started to ask, but he was cut off by the loud noise of a siren. The early warning alarm blared over the loudspeakers, and interrupted the conversation. A single large impact, which was subsequently accompanied by many smaller shocks, was then felt throughout the ship.

The entire Gekko shook violently, throwing Renton, Eureka, Maurice, Maeter, and Linc to the floor. "We're gonna die!" Linc yelled, already breaking into hysterics. The other children followed suit, and Eureka crawled over to them. She began to console them amidst all the confusion, while Renton made an attempt to stand, only to fall once again. The shaking soon ceased, but several loud noises were still ringing out from an unknown location. "What happened? Did something in the lab explode?" Renton inquired of no one in particular as he finally managed to rise. A rather annoying buzz accompanied by intermittent crackling soon filled the air around them, but it was only a mere prelude to the horrors that waited.

Without warning, the overhead lights flickered, and then went out. Renton rushed to the light switch, but found it was out of order. He cursed silently to himself, reviewing the probable causes for the sudden blackout in his mind. Now becoming convinced that the recent commotion was caused by some sort of enemy invasion, he swiftly made his way back over to where Eureka sat, comforting the children. "I don't think we should stay here" stated Renton, his voice clouded with nervousness. "Why, what's wrong?" Eureka questioned, retaining the soothing voice she had been using to calm Maurice, Maeter, and Linc. "I…I think we could be under attack, and there's only one way out of this room. The door is in no way sturdy and we don't have any weapons" he whispered in her ear, keeping his voice down as to not alert the recently pacified kids. Eureka frowned, nodded, and then stood, readying her young children to leave.

With a loud electrical hum, the auxiliary power crackled on, casting a dull radiance on the mess hall. Over the loudspeaker, Talho's concerned voice rang out hurriedly. "Renton, Eureka, we're under attack! We sealed off all the outer hatches, so there's no easy way out! You two need to escape the ship by way of the LFOs. If we can't get the catapult open for you, you'll have to blast your way out with the 808's beam cannon. Be careful, there may already be enemy combatants throughout the Gek-" The voice was abruptly halted as the backup generators either failed or were destroyed, and the cafeteria was once again bathed in an eerie shade of gray.

The small group of five, knowing time was short, rushed out into the main hallway, which extended the sprawling distance from the nose of the Gekko to the hangar entrance. With Renton leading the way, they began their hurried trek through the corridor. After taking only a few steps; however, Eureka's adopted daughter, Maeter, turned around to look behind them, and immediately stopped in her tracks. "What…is that?" she half yelled, causing her four companions to stop and look as well. Not far from their position, in the direction of the ship's bridge, about six feet off of the ground, were two miniscule, closely-placed, green lights. The question was soon answered when the lights shifted slightly to the left, then to the right, accompanied by a short, resounding boom: a footstep. "Two targets acquired" a raspy voice stated simply. The appearance of this new foe threw the children, and to a lesser extent, Renton and Eureka, into a panic. All the while, the steady sound of the man's advance continued.

* * *

In the Gekko's tiny sub-bridge, Talho, Woz, and Jobs sat, unable to take any action as a result of the loss of power. "It looks like shifting the control systems here was pointless after all. Without any power, we've got no way to keep track of enemy positions or advise Renton and Eureka on an escape route…" Woz, the Gekko's radar personnel stated grimly. He was typing at breakneck speed on a battery-powered laptop which was plugged into the sub-bridge's control console, trying to regain control of the ship's power system. "Do you think it was the right thing to do? Should I have told them to travel through the ducts instead of wasting that time saying enemies could be aboard the ship?" Talho asked with extreme stress visible on her features. "No, we're not dealing with an enemy unaccustomed to invasions. They'd have someone waiting in the ventilation system. Even if they didn't, I'm sure they've hacked into the communications system, so they'd know right where to look. Traveling through the main hallway, which Renton will most likely decide to do, though the most reckless choice, is the last thing those guys would expect. I bet that's the least defended area at this point. There are also many intersecting hallways they can use as a detour if they run into enemies. Besides, Holland is leading our forces to Renton's position now. It won't be long until they've got a seasoned pro to help them out. You can't completely count Renton out either. He'll fight for them." Jobs assured with the air of a college professor giving a lecture.

"'Our forces', huh?" Talho asked sarcastically, "I guess if you call Ken-Goh, Hap, and Matthieu a force..." she quipped. "You should have more faith in your friends, Talho" Woz advised, giving up on his attempt to reactivate the generators. "Damn, must be some new jamming device" he noted to himself. "It's not that I don't have faith in them…We just don't know exactly how many enemies we're dealing with here. For all we know, there could be fifty or a hundred SOF guys aboard the Gekko right now." Talho said in her own defense. After sitting in silence for a few moments more, she burst out in agony. "We don't know anyone's position or whether they're alive or dead! I hate feeling so helpless!" As soon as she had finished her rant, a series of loud bangs emanated from the locked-down entrance to the sub-bridge. The door was flung open, and two individuals dressed completely in black flooded into the room. Without hesitation, Talho reached for the pistol she had stashed under the command console, and began to pull it out. "None of the targets are here" the one on the right said to the other. They nodded to each other, and raised their guns, preparing to fire.

* * *

"Run" Renton told her, his voice wavering slightly from the recognition of what he was doing. "R-Renton, I-" Eureka stammered; running was the last thing that had come to her mind. "Please go…I need you to take Maurice, Maeter, and Linc and run, now!" he yelled as the figure that was shrouded in shadows drew ever nearer. Her head told her to run, but her heart was much more conflicted. It was screaming, almost commanding her to stay and fight along with Renton, and she most likely would have if it had not been for the presence of the three young children. Getting them to safety had to be the first priority; at least, that was the conclusion logic brought her. The repeated, echoing boom of the intruders footsteps grew ever louder. "To the hangar, Eureka. Take Nirvash, get out of the Gekko, and then fly away and hide somewhere. Don't stop for anything!" he pleaded, giving his complete willpower to avoid losing his nerve and running as well. "What about you? What's going to happen?" she asked, shouting above the sobs of the children while momentarily clasping Renton's hand. "Don't worry. There's no way this guy will be on your tail. You just worry about what's in front of you. I'll make sure that no one is able to get to you. I promise! Now, go!" he shouted, urging her to leave. She heard fear and uncertainty in his voice. _"Fear of death?"_ That thought was so horrid that she actually yelled to Renton in protest. "Don't die! Please, you can't die here!" she begged him. Renton gave her a quick, half-hearted nod and a small grin. "We'll meet again in the place where there is no darkness"* he muttered, a mixture of fear and adrenaline halting the simple yet unrelated 'I love you' he had intended. With Renton's cryptic parting words resounding in her mind, Eureka let go of the boy's hand and took two uneasy steps backwards before turning, grabbing the hands of the children, and leaving Renton behind.

* * *

Terror; a nameless and infinite fear festered in their very hearts. Fear was silently creeping up behind them, and its pursuit never wavered. Its teeth were bared, ready to strike. They were sure of it. In their most terrifying and gruesome nightmares, fear had never seemed so material, so near. Giving up logical thought, they unwittingly fled deeper into the menacing night of their own irrational imaginings, leaving no room in their consciousness for any hope. The entire family of four was enveloped in the thought that death itself was hot on their heels, and would at any second pounce down upon them.

Eureka and her children scampered hurriedly down the lightless corridor, which they vaguely recognized as the main hallway. There was no solace in these familiar surroundings, however, for they too had been warped and distorted into a horrifying presence by the very shadow and doubt that kept Eureka, Maurice, Maeter, and Linc running. There was no use in trying to hide their presence; their labored breathing and the clamorous sounds of their rubber soled shoes contacting the metallic floor was more than enough to alert anyone in the surrounding area of their location.

The four of them, dazed by the sudden assault on the Gekko, could not be blamed for their fear, which stemmed from a lack of faith in Renton, who had stayed behind to fight a man who looked to be almost twice his size to buy them time to escape. All four felt like, and undoubtedly were, the prey of an unseen predator. Realizing that they had to make it to the hangar, which seemed to be miles away, in order to escape the ship, they quickened their pace. Though she felt a familiar, profound sense of foreboding as she pushed on through the sinister-looking passage, Eureka was determined to keep her word to Renton. _"This feeling…it's the same one that I've been experiencing for days now…but its so much stronger now"_ As she crossed one of the many intersecting corridors, Eureka suddenly experienced a sharp sting in the back of her leg, and realized that her fears were not unfounded. She had been running a bit behind the children, making sure that none of them fell behind. At this crossroad of two hallways, Eureka felt, a firm grip worm its way around her ankle, stopping her in her tracks and immediately noticed something, sharp; something icy cold, being dragged roughly across the back of her knee. Whatever this cold, sharp object was, it cut a deep gash. She was almost certain she could feel a muscle being rent in half.

The girl's knees buckled underneath her; she fell down face-first with a yelp of both terror and pain, grasping the wound. The man who had been crouching around the corner, who had slashed the back of her leg with a serrated knife to immobilize her, stood. His nonexistent face, completely hidden by the helmet he wore, sent shivers down the spines of the three children. The night vision goggles with glowing green lenses which protruded from the faceless mask made the intruder seem more like some sort of demonic creature than a human. Turning to face her attacker, Eureka cringed, doing her best to get to her feet. Her breaths coming in frequent, pained heaves, she lifted herself up on her uninjured left knee, and began pushing against the floor with her hands, which slipped slightly, bloodied from their contact with her wound. The man, noticing her attempt to stand, brought a swift kick to her stomach, which flipped her onto her back. He followed this up with a blow to her undefended temple.

The glancing blow to her head made Eureka's world spin, and the dizziness brought her to the verge of vomiting. She could hear the faint sound of crying, which seemed to be coming from afar off in the distance, mixing together with the ceaseless throbbing in her ears. Looming on the verge of unconsciousness, Eureka felt a warm puddle of blood forming underneath her outstretched leg. The way in which she had fallen had caused the leg to extend, which in turn caused the wound to tear open at the sides. The excruciating pain caused tears to well up in her eyes. A sickeningly hard blow then came down on her chest; the man had placed a heavy boot on top of her to keep her still, just happening to apply a good amount of the force to her already damaged ribcage. Instead of crying out in agony, she attempted to urge the children to run, but her words fell on deaf ears. All three were staring past her in disbelief and fear, and Eureka turned her head to once again face the demonic figure. As her vision slowly focused, Eureka noticed the man's menacing hand extending toward her. Unable to find the sizeable amount of strength needed to throw his foot off of her and crawl backwards out of his reach, Eureka closed her eyes, submitting to whatever fate would befall her.

Suddenly, Maurice lunged at Eureka's assailant, his fright giving way to rage. This took the large man by surprise and knocked him backward. The man instantly threw a powerful uppercut right into the young boy's stomach which took his feet off the ground and sent him hurdling back into the nearest wall. The blow knocked the wind out of Maurice, and he gasped for breath while fighting the haze which was slowly overcoming him. Undaunted, but obviously about to lose consciousness, Maurice yelled in the most threatening voice he could muster, and lunged at the man who had stabbed Eureka. Without so much as a sound, the man raised his pistol, aiming for the Maurice's heart. A deafening gunshot, a horrified scream, and a loud thud-the collapse of a body onto the floor-rang out.

END Chapter 7 Part B

* * *

*I don't claim to be an eloquent writer, and I need to give credit where credit is due, so I'd like to point out that the quote "We shall meet again in the place where there is no darkness" is from George Orwell's 1984, which is one of the most famous "anti-utopian" novels. What's the connection between the two, you ask? Well, only time will tell…Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, so you should check it out...literally….from the library..…get it?...... Anyone?

Also, on an unrelated note, I've added a secondary name to this story. Psalms of Planets: Opening. What is the significance? Only time will tell.


End file.
